Gov. Doug Ducey has worked closely with his counterpart in neighboring Sonora, promoting the shared interests of their two states. But soon he’ll be working with a new leader. Sonora Gov. Claudia Pavlovich’s term is up this year, and six new candidates are in the running to replace her.
After approval by Sonora’s electoral institute this week, the campaigns officially kick off this Friday, but the race has already received significant attention, in part because of the candidacy of Alfonso Durazo, a member of the president’s Morena party who resigned from his post as Mexico’s Security secretary last year to announce his run for governor.
He's just one of several well-known Sonoran politicians who tossed their hats in the ring this election cycle.
Four of the candidates are former mayors of major Sonoran cities. Ernesto Gándara, former Hermosillo mayor, will represent the Va Por Sonora coalition, made up of the once rival PAN, PRI and PRD parties. Ricardo Bours, who served as mayor of Cajeme and is the brother of former Sonora Gov. Eduardo Bours, is the candidate for the Movimiento Ciudadano party. Former Nogales mayor Cuauhtémoc Galindo is running with the Progressive Social Networks party. Carlos Zatarain, with the Encuentro Solidario, or Solidary Encounter party (PES), formerly served as the mayor of Guaymas.
The sixth candidate, Rosario Robles, representing the Force for Mexico party, is an academic and activist, and the only woman in the race.
