Guillermo "Memo" Padrés Elías has been elected the next governor of Sonora. When he claimed victory last night he proclaimed it a "historic moment" and said Sonora has chosen "a humble governor with his feet on the ground." (Let's hope those feet aren't made of clay.)Padrés, a member of PAN (aka "panista"), won 47.76% of the votes while his opponent Alfonso Elías Serrano, of PRI (or "priista"), had 43.56%. You may notice some similarity in the candidates' names; they are from the same family. Cousins, maybe.
Padrés will succeed the present governor, Eduardo Bours, the chicken magnate (his family owns Bachoco chicken processors) who was contemplating a run for president of Mexico next term. But as my blogging colleague Ale explains in her comment to this post, Bours' chances now appear to be fried (pun intended), because of his family connections to the ABC childcare center in Hermosillo which was destroyed by fire last month, killing 47 toddlers, as well as the state's negligent response to the disaster.
A panista was also elected president (mayor) of Guaymas: César Lizárraga Hernandez.
P.S. Thanks, Ale! I always learn so much from you about all things Mexican.