37 candidates killed in Mexico ran for lower offices

The claim: 37 Mexican presidential candidates were killed before the election

An Instagram post from June 3 (direct link, archive link) includes a photo of Claudia Sheinbaum, the president-elect of Mexico, smiling and waving.

“37 other genuine Mexican presidential candidates were assassinated,” says the caption accompanying the photo.

Other social media posts make or hint at similar claims about the fate of their political opponents.

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Our rating: False

According to an organization that tracks political violence in Mexico, no presidential candidate was killed during the campaign. However, more than three dozen candidates for other offices were killed during their campaigns.

Violence is mainly directed against candidates for local office

Sheinbaum, a scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, was elected on June 2, USA TODAY reported. She will be the first woman to lead the country and the first person of Jewish descent to lead the predominantly Catholic nation.

It was an election season of unprecedented violence across the country, but none of the politicians killed were presidential candidates.

The presidential election campaign was between Sheinbaum (a political ally of outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador), Xóchitl Gálvez and Jorge Álvarez Máynez.

Paulina Creuheras, deputy director of Mexican consulting firm Integralia, said her organization had registered 39 murders of political candidates or aspiring candidates between September 2023 and the June 2 election. The firm’s last report before the election pointed to 34 candidates killed, but she said a final report expected to be released in June would give the full number.

“The majority of the victims were candidates for local or state office,” Creuheras, whose work includes assessing political risks, said in an email to USA TODAY.

Fact check: Manipulated photo of Mexico’s new president serves anti-Semitic stereotypes

According to Reuters, the number of 37 candidates dead claimed in social media posts matches the number reported across the country on May 31.

Some versions of the claim claim the killings were carried out to give Sheinbaum an advantage. But InSight Crime, a news channel and think tank focused on organized crime in the Americas, reported that experts in Mexico believe much of the violence was driven by organized crime gangs trying to maintain control or influence local elections.

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