2005 Mejican general election
The 2005 Mejican general election was held on Sunday, October 22, to elect the president of the government and the members of the V Imperial Congress in both chambers. This election was contested between incumbent president Diego Fernández de Cevallos of the MDP; Felipe Calderón Hinojosa of the NAP, a long-time member of the Chamber of Deputies; Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the PPP, protégé of perennial candidate Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas and former mayor of Mejico City; and Roberto Madrazo of the POP, former governor of Tabasco.
Incumbent president Diego Fernández de Cevallos entered the campaign as a commanding figure and an orthodox Vasconcelist, having established an authoritative governance style during his first term as President. Under his leadership, Mejico experienced significant infrastructure modernization, most notably with the inauguration of FERROSUCO and the world's first superconductive maglev train line between the cities of San Francisco and San Diego. His campaign was also focused on promoting the successful assertiveness demonstrated in Chiapas, lauding Fernández de Cevallos as the candidate of law and order, but the displacement of tens of thousands tarnished this image. Despite this, he retained the support of the corporatist sector, as business leaders and labor unions consented to his agenda.
Calderón positioned himself as an ally to the prevailing Vasconcelist sentiment, with a clear recognition of the ideology's resounding impact. While partnering with the spirit of Fernández de Cevallos' leadership, Calderón simultaneously distinguished his platform by critically addressing what he deemed as the ineffective neoliberal policies that failed to prevent or effectively respond to the Chiapas Crisis during the Salinas and Zedillo presidencies. López Obrador ran a platform centered on social justice and opposed the militaristic approach taken by Fernández de Cevallos in the Chiapas Conflict, being one of the main critics of the government during this time. AMLO criticized the government's heavy-handed tactics, advocating for peaceful negotiation and respectful dialogue with the affected communities to bring a lasting resolution to the conflict. Meanwhile, Madrazo touched on the Chiapas issue in his campaign, criticizing the aftermath of the conflict and highlighting the need for reconstruction and reconciliation.
In the end, Fernández de Cevallos' populist response, combined with a firm Vasconcelist stance on governance, successfully secured his re-election with 36.47% of the votes, increasing his party's seats from 249 to 261 in the Chamber of Deputies, and achieving a similar boost of more than 80 seats in the Senate. Meanwhile, his political ally, the NAP, led by Calderón, experienced a dip in support, falling by 6.44 points, although they still managed to retain a substantial portion of their base, ending up with 148 seats—a decrease of 47 seats—that underscored the challenge they faced in differentiating themselves while still showing allegiance to the Vasconcelist ideals. This fall in support for the NAP is explained by the move of its more rightward voters in favor of Fernández de Cevallos instead, advocating for a "useful vote" that would block the opportunities of the POP and the PPP, two parties that had previously been growing in popularity.
López Obrador's and Madrazo's stances resonated with many Mejicans disenchanted with the government's handling of the Chiapas Conflict, earning them 18.58% and 16.15% of the vote, respectively, as well as a combined 249 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, signaling a modest shift toward the left among the electorate. The election was overall characterized by its focus on the aftermath of the Chiapas Conflict. Fernández de Cevallos successfully leveraged his track record on these issues despite growing concerns over the human cost of the Chiapas campaign.