Gubernatorial elections were held in fourteen Mexican states on Sunday, July 4, 2010.[1] The gubernatorial elections were held simultaneously with other state and local elections.[1] Elections for governor were held in Aguascalientes, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Durango, Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Puebla, Quintana Roo, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz and Zacatecas.
A multi-party alliance between President Felipe Calderón's National Action Party (PAN) and left-wing parties won elections in Oaxaca, Puebla and Sinaloa.[1][2]
The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), led by Beatriz Paredes, captured Aguascalientes and Tlaxcala from PAN and also picked up the governor's mansion in Zacatecas from the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).[1]
Baja California
Main article: 2010 Baja California gubernatorial election
Chiapas
Main article: 2010 Chiapas gubernatorial election
Oaxaca
Main article: 2010 Oaxaca gubernatorial election
The incumbent government of Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz was seen as increasingly repressive and corrupt by voters and political observers.[1] Ruiz oversaw the crackdown on left-wing protesters in the city of Oaxaca in 2006,[1] leading to at least seventeen deaths. Ruiz was also believed to be linked to Oaxacan paramilitary groups[1] which are responsible to violence and deaths in rural areas of Oaxaca.[3]
On the day of the election, Oaxacan police arrested 39 people for possessing bomb making materials in two hotels.[1]
A party alliance between the state's largest vote winner, the Peace and Progress Coalition led by Gabino Cue, ousted the PRI from power.[1]