A mayoral candidate has been shot and killed in the latest political murder in Mexico, authorities confirmed yesterday.

Juan Carlos Andrade’s body was found with multiple gunshot wounds in a vehicle near an interstate highway in an area notorious for violence and organised crime.

He had been returning from a wake when he was shot close to the Jalisco-Michoacan border. Mr Andrade is the third politician to be killed in the area since December.

He was a member of the Movimiento Ciudadano party and seeking re-election in Jilotlan de los Dolores, Jalisco where he had been mayor since 2015. 

Movimiento Ciudadano party spokesman Enrique Alfaro condemned the murder and called for the resignation of Jalisco state governor Aristoteles Sandoval.

“Under these conditions, we cannot speak of democratic normality, in these conditions we cannot speak of a free electoral process,” he said.

A report released by risk consultancy firm Etelleket last week blamed organised crime for the rise in political murders in Mexico.

Investigations into the murder are underway.