Senator Saúl Monreal Ávila insists on his constitutional right to seek the Zacatecas governorship in 2027, despite his brother being the current governor, arguing that competing in elections does not amount to nepotism. Similarly, San Luis Potosí Governor Ricardo Gallardo Cardona denies promoting his wife, Senator Ruth González Silva, to succeed him, stating it is a personal decision and not favoritism. These positions emerge amid Morena's internal reforms against nepotism in family successions.
In the context of the 2027 elections, Morena Senator Saúl Monreal Ávila maintains his aspiration for the Zacatecas governorship, where his brother David Monreal Ávila is the current governor. Monreal Ávila argues that Article 35 of the Constitution guarantees the right to be voted for without kinship restrictions. “I have a constitutional right... No internal guideline can be above the Constitution,” he stated in an interview. He added that nepotism involves direct imposition, not electoral participation: “Nepotism is when a governor places, imposes, or helps make someone a candidate. I am not the governor's candidate.”
However, his brother Ricardo Monreal, Morena's coordinator in the Chamber of Deputies, opposes it, urging respect for party agreements against nepotism. “You're seeing the storm, little one, and you don't kneel. Division is not convenient,” Ricardo Monreal said, aligning with President Claudia Sheinbaum's stance on prohibiting nominations of governors' relatives.
In parallel, San Luis Potosí Governor Ricardo Gallardo Cardona rejected nepotism accusations regarding his wife Ruth González Silva's potential PVEM candidacy. “Nepotism is when you are governor... and hire your relatives... When you go and play a constitutional election and the people decide, that is not nepotism,” he affirmed in the Senate. Gallardo stressed it is a “personal decision” and that PVEM statutes differ from Morena's. He mentioned reprimanding Senator Manuel Velasco for supporting her: “I talked about it with her, and with my colleague and friend Manuel Velasco. I told him and reproached him for what mischief he was doing, raising his hand here.”
Both cases highlight tensions in Morena and its allies over electoral nepotism, as the party reviews criteria to prevent family successions in governorships.
