MEXICANS in two states, including the country’s most populous, went to the polls on Sunday to elect new governors, having only known single-party rule for nearly a century.

The State of Mexico hugs Mexico City on three sides, encompassing urban sprawl and rural ranches, as well as stunning inequality, violence and corruption. For decades it has been the heart of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

But ahead of the elections there were signs that voters could be ready to finally oust the PRI in favour of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s Morena party, in a race closely watched as a preview of the 2024 presidential election.

Morena candidate Delfina Gomez, a schoolteacher making her second bid for the post, has held a healthy lead in recent polling over Alejandra del Moral. 

The former mayor representing the PRI has struggled to attract a fed-up electorate bent on change.

Ms Del Moral is not only the PRI’s hope, she leads a bizarre coalition including the conservative National Action Party and leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution that have only in common the desire to deny President Amlo’s party control of Mexico’s largest state electoral prize.

Ms Gomez has campaigned largely on the far-reaching support for Amlo’s popular social programmes.

On Friday, the president said that he hoped for a calm vote and was “very, very optimistic.” 

His party is also viewed as the favourite in next year’s presidential election.

Even though it has not yet selected its candidate, it has a couple of strong possibilities and the opposition is generally considered to be in disarray.

Voters in the sparsely populated northern border state of Coahuila, will also select a new governor on Sunday.

But even if the PRI holds on there, the loss of the State of Mexico would be a stunning reversal for a party that has ruled Mexico uninterrupted for seven decades.