By KELIN DILLON

On Monday, June 19, figures from Mexico’s in-power National Regeneration Movement (Morena) officially began the battle for the party’s 2024 presidential candidacy and in hopes of becoming the chosen successor of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), with the race’s most notable candidates – Mexico City Governor Claudia Sheinbaum, Secretary of the Interior (Segob) Adán Augusto López, Secretary of Foreign Relations (SRE) Marcelo Ebrard, and president of the Senate Political Coordination Board (Jucopo) and Morena Senate Coordinator Ricardo Monreal – each taking a distinctly different approach to the start of the campaign trail.

For Sheinbaum, the current polling frontrunner who’s also garnered the public support of Morena’s electoral allies the Green Party (PVEM), the Mexico City governor kicked off her national tour in San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec, Oaxaca, emphasizing her position as Mexico’s potential first woman president and reiterating her commitment to continuing AMLO and Morena’s so-called Fourth Transformation (4T).

While addressing the crowd, Sheinbaum made sure to emphasize her endearment for López Obrador, who presently holds an approval rating of 65 percent nationwide and the second highest international approval rating of any world leader behind Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Today we have a president who looks after minorities, that is why when we talk about continuity it is because we do not want the government to come to someone who betrays the people of Mexico,” said Sheinbaum at the time. “When we talk about continuity it is because we aim to deepen the rights of the people of Mexico.”

Beginning his campaign in a Mexico City hotel, Ebrard likewise started the battle for the succession with his own display of commitment toward AMLO, promising to establish a Secretariat of the Fourth Transformation headed by López Obrador’s son, Andrés Manuel López Beltrán, if elected into office.

Ebrard then announced he would continue his national campaign trail with the accompaniment of his kindergarten teacher, who he credited with inspiring his career in politics.

Meanwhile, Segob Head López took to the Auditorium of the University of Guadalajara to reveal he would not be taking public resources to conduct a national campaign tour, instead claiming he would divert the funds toward social justice causes.

“I greatly respect my colleagues who are participating in this process, regarding their decisions,” said López. “But we are going to ask that the resources that should be allocated for our activities be donated.”

As for Monreal, the Jucopo president began with a rally at Mexico City’s Monument of the Mother, where he too confirmed his dedication to continuing the work of the 4T, and calling for unity within Morena and respect for the electoral race’s rules.

Fringe candidates Labor Party (PT) Deputy Gerardo Fernández Noroña and PVEM Senator Manuel Velasco also began their respective campaigns in Oaxaca and the State of Mexico, where Fernández Noroña mistook Oaxaca for Puebla and Velasco expressed his campaign’s emphasis on catering to Mexico’s young voters.