1997 Mexican legislative election

Legislative elections were held in Mexico on 6 July 1997.^[1] The Institutional Revolutionary Party won 239 of the 500 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, the first time it had failed to win a majority. As a result, the leaders of the Party of the Democratic Revolution and of the National Action Party were able to control Congress and installed PRD member Porfirio Muñoz Ledo as the president of the Chamber of Deputies. At first, the PRI refused to accept the nomination and its parliamentary leader, Arturo Núñez Jiménez, declared it illegal. However, the PRI later accepted the fact and Muñoz Ledo answered the state of the union address of President Ernesto Zedillo.

1997 Mexican legislative election

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Chamber of Deputies

All 500 seats in the Chamber of Deputies

Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– PRI Humberto Roque Villanueva 39.09 239 −61 PAN Felipe Calderón 26.64 121 +2 PRD Andrés Manuel López Obrador 25.69 125 +54 PVEM Jorge González Torres 3.81 8 +8 PT Alberto Anaya 2.58 7 −3 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

Senate

32 of the 128 seats in the Senate of the Republic

Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– PRI Humberto Roque Villanueva 38.48 76 −19 PAN Felipe Calderón 26.92 33 +8 PRD Andrés Manuel López Obrador 25.83 14 +6 PVEM Jorge González Torres 4.03 1 +1 PT Alberto Anaya 2.55 1 +1 Independents – – 3 +3 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

Voting boxes from the elections

The Party of the Cardenist Front of National Reconstruction (PFCRN), Popular Socialist Party (PSP) and Mexican Democratic Party (PDM) all lost their legal registration and disappeared, while the Labor Party (PT) and the Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM) consolidated their support, which turned them into parties who could form coalition governments. Voter turnout was between 57% and 58%.^[2]

Background

The political landscape saw great change in the years preceding the 1997 midterm elections. Ernesto Zedillo, the PRI's nominee for president in the 1994 general elections was legitimately victorious because he received votes that the previous PRI presidents had not. However, there was a noticeable fragility to the beginning of his mandate as the nation was caught up in a sudden economic crisis (dubbed the "December mistake"), which occurred on 19 December 1994, as a result of an unexpected capital flight and a rise in financial speculation. This led to a near-70% devaluation of the national currency. Due to the seriousness of the problems, the prospect of a president resigning was openly discussed for the first time in a nation with a long-standing presidential tradition.^[3] A number of erratic decisions in the first year of Zedillo's administration heightened the sense of vulnerability, including the police-military operation against the Zapatistas on 9 February 1995, the backing of the contested governors of Chiapas and Tabasco and the resignation of three secretaries of state in less than six months.

However, the Zedillo also reinforced the transition to full democracy:

We Mexicans want a democratic life, at the height of our history, at the height of our diversity; However, we must recognize that democratic advances are still insufficient. The time has come to join our wills without sacrificing our differences; The time has come to unite in the construction of a new democracy that includes a better relationship between citizens and the government, between the states and the Federation; a new ethical code between political contenders and a definitive electoral reform. The time has come when democracy covers all areas of social coexistence.

— Ernesto Zedillo

Results

Senate

Party		Votes	%	Seats
				Won	Not up	Total	+/–
	Institutional Revolutionary Party	11,266,155	38.48	13	63	76	–19
	National Action Party	7,881,121	26.92	9	24	33	+8
	Party of the Democratic Revolution	7,564,656	25.83	8	6	14	+6
	Ecologist Green Party of Mexico	1,180,004	4.03	1	0	1	+1
	Labor Party	745,881	2.55	1	0	1	+1
	Party of the Cardenist Front of National Reconstruction	337,328	1.15	0	0	0	0
	Mexican Democratic Party	193,509	0.66	0	0	0	0
	Popular Socialist Party	96,500	0.33	0	0	0	0
	Non-registered candidates	16,137	0.06	0	0	0	0
	Independents			–	3	3	+3
Total		29,281,291	100.00	32	96	128	0
Valid votes		29,281,291	97.11
Invalid/blank votes		872,421	2.89
Total votes		30,153,712	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		52,208,966	57.76
Source: Nohlen, IPU

Chamber of Deputies

Party		Party-list			Constituency			Total seats	+/–
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Institutional Revolutionary Party	11,438,719	39.09	74	11,305,957	39.09	165	239	–61
	National Action Party	7,795,538	26.64	57	7,698,840	26.62	64	121	+2
	Party of the Democratic Revolution	7,518,903	25.69	55	7,435,456	25.71	70	125	+54
	Ecologist Green Party of Mexico	1,116,137	3.81	8	1,105,688	3.82	0	8	+8
	Labor Party	756,125	2.58	6	748,869	2.59	1	7	–3
	Party of the Cardenist Front of National Reconstruction	328,872	1.12	0	325,465	1.13	0	0	0
	Mexican Democratic Party	193,903	0.66	0	191,779	0.66	0	0	0
	Popular Socialist Party	99,109	0.34	0	98,176	0.34	0	0	0
	Independents	15,815	0.05	0	15,638	0.05	0	0	0
Total		29,263,121	100.00	200	28,925,868	100.00	300	500	0
Valid votes		29,263,121	97.16		28,925,868	97.16
Invalid/blank votes		856,732	2.84		845,803	2.84
Total votes		30,119,853	100.00		29,771,671	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		52,208,966	57.69		52,208,966	57.02
Source: Nohlen, Diario Oficial

References

1. Mexico awaits verdict in historic election CNN, 6 July 1997
2. Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, pp465-467 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
3. Levitsky, Steven; Way, Lucan (2022-09-13). Revolution and Dictatorship: The Violent Origins of Durable Authoritarianism. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-22357-5.