Mexico's president promises 'Plan B' after congressional defeat of electoral reforms

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum says she has a “Plan B” after Congress blocked her electoral reform, her first major defeat in office

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum on Thursday downplayed the defeat of a constitutional reform proposal in the Congress, her first major legislative setback since taking office, saying there was a “Plan B” to make changes to the electoral system.

With defections from some members of the smaller allied Green and Workers parties, Sheinbaum’s Morena party did not have the supermajority to pass the proposal in the Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday evening. Some of the proposed changes, which Sheinbaum’s party has framed as budget austerity measures, were viewed as reducing the power of smaller parties.

Sheinbaum, who took office in 2024, warned Thursday that voters will judge whether politicians from those other parties had complied with their promise to support her administration’s agenda.

One of the main sticking points was that the proposal to do away with a system that lets parties fill some seats in Congress on the basis of proportional representation. That was designed to give smaller parties some seats in Congress, based on their national vote percentage, even if they couldn’t win individual congressional district races.

Sheinbaum had pushed to have all members of Congress elected by voters.