Chamber:
	Cámara de Senadores
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	6 July 1997
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for 32 Senate seats on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	The 1997 mid-term elections were held simultaneously with, inter alia, polling for six (of 31) state governorships and for mayor of Mexico City (who was previously appointed). Of the Senate seats, the 32 that had been filled in 1991 were up for re-election for a three-year term; all 128 seats will be renewed in the year 2000. For Congress, the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), headed by Mr. Humberto Roque Villanueva, was mainly challenged by the centre-right National Action Party (PAN) led by Mr. Felipe Calderon Hinojosa and the centre-left Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) headed by Mr. Andres Lopez Obrador. The PRD’s candidate in the mayoral race for Mexico City was Mr. Cuauhtemoc Cardenas Solorzano, who had previously run for President of the Republic and was the son of the popular 1930s President Lazaro Cardenas. During the campaign, the opposition vowed to fight corruption in official circles, cut taxes and decentralise Government services; it moreover pointed to the pervasive economic and social dissatisfaction in the country, particularly after the December 1994 devaluation of the peso effected by the administration of President Zedillo (PRI). A visible sign of this discontent was especially evident in the poorer, southern Pacific states, which were hit by guerrilla violence of the Popular Revolutionary Army. Conditions for fair balloting were created by significant 1996 electoral reforms which included the setting up of an autonomous Federal Electoral Institute to manage the elections rather than the Ministry of Interior. The polling itself was monitored by hundreds of national and foreign observers. On election day, in what was widely interpreted as a protest vote against the PRI’s policies, the party lost the absolute Chamber of Deputies majority it had held since its foundation in 1929 as it stumbled badly in the competition for the 300 majority seats; of the total 500, it gained 238 to 126 for PRD, which replaced the pro-business PAN in second place by raising its popular vote share from 16 to 25.8%. PRI, however, held on to its large lead in the Senate. Mr. Cardenas, for his part, scored a clear victory in the Federal District, regarded as the second most powerful post in the country; this projected him as a strong contender to succeed Mr. Zedillo in the 2000 presidential contest. The overall congressional outcome meant that the executive and legislative branches of Government were in the hands of different majorities for the first time since 1913.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (6 July 1997): Elections results
Number of registered electors	53'022'198
Voters	30,080,957 (56.73 %)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	856'216
Valid votes	29'224'741

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	Votes	%
Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)	11,266,155	38.48
National Action Party (PAN)	7,881,121	26.92
Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD)	7,564,656	25.83
Green Party (PVEM)	1,180,004	4.03
Labour Party (PT)	754,691	4.03
Independents	n.a.	n.a.

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total	Seats 1997
Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)	76	13
National Action Party (PAN)	33	9
Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD)	14	8
Green Party (PVEM)	1	1
Labour Party (PT)	1	1
Independents	3	0

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	112
Women:	16
Percent of women:	12.50

Distribution of seats according to age:
30-34 years	1
35-44 years	30
45-54 years	60
55-64 years	26
65-74 years	10
75-80 years	1
Distribution of seats according to profession:
Lawyers	45
Economists	14
Business administrators	13
Political Scientists	6
Chemical engineers	5
Teachers	4
Doctors	3
Accountants	3
Unemployed	10
Others	18