Political assassinations in Mexico: 34 candidates murdered amid election

People carry a coffin that contains the remains of a man slain in a mass shooting into a church for a funeral service in Huitzilac, Mexico, on May 14. Fernando Llano/AP

What should have been celebrated as a ground-breaking election has become overshadowed by the bloodiest election campaign in Mexico’s history, and ongoing high levels of violence across the country.

At least 34 political candidates or applicants have been murdered since June 2023 as gangs try and influence those coming into power, according to a report by research group Laboratorio Electoral, which also found hundreds of attacks on candidates and people related to the current electoral process.

And while the murder rate has fallen in Mexico between 2019 and 2022, in absolute numbers the country is still reeling from historically high levels of homicides of around 30,000 people murdered each year, say experts.

The central challenge for the next president will be convincing voters that she can end the near-certain impunity in Mexico; around 95% of all crimes nationwide went unsolved in the country in 2022, according to think tank Mexico Evalua.

“Mexico is a country where more than nine out of 10 crimes committed against the population go unpunished,” Stephanie Brewer, Mexico Director at the Washington Office for Latin America (WOLA), told CNN.

“It’s a country with low levels of reporting of crimes due largely to distrust in authorities, lack of faith in investigations, which can be very well-founded.”