Mexico's PRI opposition set to sweep state elections | Reuters

Reuters, by Mica Rosenberg, Mexico City, 04/07/2010, extracto/excerpt.-

Mexico's main opposition party looked set to sweep elections for state governors, mayors and local deputies across a third of the country on Sunday, setting the stage for its push for the presidency in 2012.

Exit polls showed the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, winning most of the 12 gubernatorial votes, which would bolster a likely presidential bid by the party's rising star, State of Mexico Governor Enrique Pena Nieto.

The PRI pushed out rival parties in three states and kept hold of at least six others it already controlled, exit polls by newspaper Milenio and pollster Mitofsky showed.

'This election proves the PRI is the leading political force in the country,' the party's leader Beatriz Paredes said at a news conference, claiming wins in two other states.