Mexican Politics: Governor Enrique Peña Nieto Seeks Mexico’s Top Job - NYTimes.com

Governor Enrique Peña Nieto Seeks Mexico’s Top Job - NYTimes.com: "The most important candidate in Sunday’s election for governor here is the one who is not on the ballot.

Opinion polls for the race in Mexico State, which surrounds Mexico City, show that the candidate from the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, will win resoundingly.

But the bigger winner may be the state’s departing governor, Enrique Peña Nieto, the youthful, photogenic early front-runner in the 2012 presidential election campaign.

Analysts say that in passing the job on to a candidate from his party, Mr. Peña Nieto is gathering momentum for his national ambitions. Politicians from Mexico’s two other main political parties, beginning with President Felipe Calderón, view that prospect with trepidation, warning that the PRI’s unchecked spending, its advertising blitz and its handouts this year are merely a warm-up for 2012."