The strengths and weaknesses of the PAN in Chihuahua

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze why the PAN accquired such unprecedented strength in the northern state of Chihuahua in the early 1980's, why it was weakened towards the latter part of the 1980's, and why it acquired strenght again in 1992. Chihuahua is an interesting case to analyze because in no other state did PAN win so many municipalities as in Chihuahua, only to lose all municipalities and most deputies after 1986. It might be argued that the fraud explains the poor electoral results of the PAN in 1986, but in the local elections of 1989 and in the federal elections of 1991, PAN lost most important electoral positions, despite the absence of massive fraud.