MEXICO CITY (Reuters – Mexico’s ruling Party was poised to take four more states after the elections on Sunday. Preliminary results indicated that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is now in a stronger position to hold power before his successor, who will be held in 2024.

Based on preliminary count results by electoral authorities Lopez Obrador and his leftist National Regeneration Movement(MORENA), and their allies, were set to win gubernatorial race in Oaxaca and Quintana Roo states.

In the center of the state, Durango was in the north and Aguascalientes in central were dominated by opposition candidates. This is broadly consistent with the results predicted by polls. Sunday saw all six elections held in the opposition.

Four of the six governorships could give MORENA control over 20 of Mexico’s 32 regional governments. This would underline President Trump’s appeal as an electoral candidate. Two other states are also run by governors who have allied themselves with MORENA.

Recent polls consistently show Lopez Obrador to be more popular that MORENA, which is the party Lopez Obrador was using as a vehicle for his presidential campaign. He won by a wide margin in 2018.

According to officials close to President Obama, he is expected to exert significant influence on his successor and that the victory in the elections will help consolidate his power.

The President has had to deal with COVID-19, a pandemic that has ravaged the country. He failed to keep his campaign promises of increased economic growth and significantly less gang-fueled crime. However, his rollout of social assistance programs has bolstered his popularity.

Mexican law states that presidents are limited to a six-year term. Lopez Obrador is expected to succeed him in June 2024. Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico City mayor, and Marcelo Ebrard (foreign minister) are the favourites for this job.

Ebrard is considered more moderate and appealing to the middle-class, while Sheinbaum tends to be more ideologically aligned than Lopez Obrador by political analysts.