Mexico: the young governor who attracted Tesla ‘gigafactory’ now wants to succeed AMLO

Samuel García, the young governor of the northern state of Nuevo León, the richest in Mexico, launched this Sunday the race for the presidency in 2024, a contest so far led by two women.

Insisting on his youth against the old parties, García, 35, registered as the only candidate for the presidential candidacy for the Citizen Movement (center-left), after requesting a license as governor. This party, emerged in 1999, was strengthened after winning the governments of Jalisco (2018) and Nuevo León (2021), two prosperous and populated states.

Accompanied by his wife, the businesswoman and “influencer” Mariana Rodríguez Cantú, and his eight-month-old daughter Mariel, García received the credential that accredits him as a pre-candidate, amidst applause and shouts of “President, president!” If elected, Garcia He will join a growing list of young leaders in the region, such as Gabriel Boric (37 years old) from Chile and the newly elected Daniel Noboa (35) from Ecuador.

“Today, ‘centennials’ and ‘millennials’ make up 57% of the country. If young people go out to vote, we don’t win, we destroy everything!”García stated before his supporters at the party headquarters in Mexico City.

““We have to get the old politics out of the country once and for all.”he added, referring to Morena, the governing party, to the PRI, which led Mexico for 70 years, and to the PAN, which governed between 2000 and 2012.

Although the official date to register presidential candidates is next February, according to the electoral law, three contenders are already practically defined, in a campaign brought forward by Morena’s decision to start its process almost a year earlier.

The ruling party appointed the former mayor of Mexico City Claudia Sheinbaum, 61, while an opposition front (PRI, PAN and PRD) selected the senator of indigenous origin Xóchitl Gálvez, 60.

Sheinbaum is the favorite, with 46% of the preferences over Gálvez’s 28%, according to a survey by the newspaper El Financiero, dated October 31. The same poll places García third, with 8% support. 18% of those surveyed remain undefined.

“Today the battle is Morena, let’s go for them”García stated.

With an energetic character and a youthful but neat image, García has been a successful governor, whose main achievement is the arrival of the electromobility giant Tesla in his state.

Billionaire Elon Musk’s firm plans to invest US$5 billion in building a “giga factory” near Monterrey, the state capital, according to the government in February.

After the announcement, which occurred shortly before the birth of his daughter Mariel, García was ecstatic on his social networks, where he shared videos of his newborn daughter, but also a photo where he appears hugging and smiling with Musk.

This Sunday, García did not mention Tesla among his achievements as governor of Nuevo León, where construction of the factory has not yet begun.