Government of Nuevo Leon

The political life of the state of Nuevo León is organized around the provisions of article 30 of the Political Constitution of the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, which provides for a republican, representative and popular government, divided into three independent powers (executive, legislative and judicial) that cannot meet in a single person or institution. Its relationship with the Mexican Federation subjects it to the general provisions that affect the entire nation, but it retains its autonomy with respect to the other states, national or foreign, and with the Federation for all matters of internal order.

Structure of the government of Nuevo León

The state government is made up of:

Executive Branch

• Governor: Samuel Alejandro García Sepúlveda
• Central Administration:

1. General Secretariat of Government
2. Public Security Secretariat
3. Procuraduría General de Justicia
4. State Finance and Treasury Secretariat
5. Ministry of Education
6. Ministry of Health
7. Ministry of Economy and Labour
8. Secretariat of Public Works
9. Senior Government Officer

• Court of Administrative Justice of the State of Nuevo León

In addition, the State Executive has the Parastatal Administration, made up of Decentralized Public Organizations and Public Trusts.

Autonomous Organizations

• Commission on Access to Public Information of the State of Nuevo León
• State Commission on Human Rights (CEDH)
• State Electoral Commission
• Electoral Tribunal of the State of Nuevo León
• Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León
• Secretary of Education

The executive branch

The executive power rests with a governor elected directly by the citizens in secret for a period of 6 years without the possibility of re-election. Only a Mexican citizen by birth over 30 years of age and with at least 5 years of residence in the entity can hold the position. Currently, the position is held by Samuel Alejandro García Sepúlveda of the Movimiento Ciudadano party for the period from October 4, 2021 to October 4, 2027.

The executive branch is made up of several institutions that are divided into two types: centralized public administration and parastatal. The central public administration is made up of all the state secretariats, the state attorney general's office and its derivative offices. The parastatal public administration is made up of decentralized public bodies and state public trust funds.

The legislative branch

Legislative power rests in the Congress of Nuevo León, which is a unicameral congress made up of 42 deputies, 26 of whom are directly and secretly elected by the citizens and 16 under the principle of proportional representation.

Local deputies can be re-elected up to four consecutive times from the reform of the State Constitution promulgated on June 9, 2014.

The current Legislature of the Nuevo León Congress, whose session period runs from 2018 to 2021, is known as the LXXV Legislature and is composed as follows.

Party			Votes	Percentage	Scalls
					Relative majority	Plurinominal	Total
		National Action Party	598 241	27.75 %	12	4	16/42
		National Regeneration Movement	462 611	21.46 %	5	3	8/42
		Institutional Revolutionary Party	396 086	18.37 %	2	4	6/42
		Citizen Movement	226 310	10.50 %	1	2	3/42
		Independent candidate	186 159	8.63 %	0	0	0/42
		Green Ecologist Party of Mexico	116 281	5.39 %	0	1	1/42
		New Partnership	65 930	3.05 %	0	1	1/42
		Party of the Democratic Revolution	20 497	0.95 %	0	0	0/42
		Rectitude Party, Democratic Hope	12 567	0.58 %	0	0	0/42
		Labour Party	260	0.10 %	3	1	4/42
		Social Meeting	1 448	0.06 %	3	0	3/42
Unregistered votes/candidates			66 866	4.00 %
Total			2 155 256	100%	26	16	42
Nuevo León State Electoral Commission.

The judiciary

The judiciary is invested in the Superior Court of Justice of Nuevo León, made up of Thirteen Magistrates who are elected by the State Congress from a shortlist presented by the Governor for a period of 10 years, with the possibility of being reelected for serve a single additional term.

Political parties

In accordance with article 40 of the State Electoral Law, official recognition as a political party in the entity is granted by the State Electoral Commission only after verifying the obtaining of 1.5% or more of the total votes cast in a local election. It is currently owned by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the National Action Party (PAN), the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (PVEM), the Labor Party (PT), the Citizen Movement (MC), New Alliance (PANAL), National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) and Social Encounter Party (PES).

The municipalities

Nuevo León is made up of 51 autonomous municipalities headed by a municipal president (mayor) who remains in office for 3 years and can be reelected but not for two consecutive terms. To be mayor it is necessary to be a Mexican citizen by birth, over 21 years of age and at least one year of residence in the municipality. Currently the recognized municipalities are: Abasolo, Agualeguas, Los Aldamas, Allende, Anáhuac, Apodaca, Aramberri, Bustamante, Cadereyta Jiménez, Carmen, Cerralvo, China, Ciénega de Flores, Doctor Arroyo, Doctor Coss, Doctor González, Escobedo, Galeana, García, General Bravo, General Terán, General Treviño, Guadalupe, Los Herreras, Hidalgo, Higueras, Hualahuises, Iturbide, Juárez, Lampazos de Naranjo, Linares, Marín, Melchor Ocampo, Mier y Noriega, Mina, Montemorelos, Monterrey (capital), Parás, Pesquería, Los Ramones, Rayones, Sabinas Hidalgo, Salinas Victoria, San Nicolás de los Garza, San Pedro Garza García, Santa Catarina, Santiago, Vallecillo, Villaldama, General Zaragoza and General Zuazua.

Citizens

The local constitution defines Nuevo Leon citizens as those people who were born within the territory of the state or those Mexicans living in the territory for more than two years who do not indicate to the municipal authorities their desire to retain their previous citizenship. The same citizenship is lost, among other reasons, for joining a federal army corps resident in the state or for being prosecuted for a serious crime. Individual guarantees are protected in Title I of the local constitution and the state does not recognize the noble titles of any person.

Citizen opinion polls

On April 24, 2008, the Impulso Democrático Capítulo México, S. C. published a study on the preferences of citizens, with the following results: 81% rated the performance of the current governor José Natividad González Parás as good and 11% like bad. Regarding the candidates for state governorship for the period 2009-2015, from the National Action Party (PAN), the interviewees expressed their preference over those who guarantee an efficient, honest and quality government: Fernando Elizondo Barragán 28%, Adalberto Madero Quiroga 25 % and Fernando Margáin Berlanga 20%. Likewise, regarding the candidates of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) the preferences are: Ricardo Canavati Tafich 18%, Eloy Cantú Segovia 22%, Benjamín Clariond Reyes-Retana 9% and Jorge Mendoza Garza 33%. The study was carried out from April 11 to 23, 2008, with 1154 confidential telephone interviews in the 51 municipalities of the state of Nuevo León, to people over 18 years of age, men and women indistinctly.