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A candidate running to be mayor in one of Mexico\u2019s most violent cities has been killed on the first day of her campaign, adding to the death toll in what experts say could be the country\u2019s bloodiest elections in history<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bertha Gisela Gayt\u00e1n was shot in a town just outside of the city of Celaya, where she was running for Morena, Mexico\u2019s governing party. A video on social media<\/a> shows a group of activists and supporters of Morena walking through the streets before shots ring out.<\/p>\n Adri\u00e1n Guerrero, a Morena candidate for the city council, was also killed in the attack.<\/p>\n They were the latest killings on the road to the 2 June elections, with at least 22 mayoral candidates murdered<\/a> since September 2023.<\/p>\n Related: <\/span>Mexico set for first female president in 2024 election<\/a><\/p>\n In part this reflects the sheer size of the elections, which will be Mexico\u2019s biggest ever. They will decide the successor of the president, Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador, as well as more than 20,000 posts at the federal, state and municipal levels.<\/p>\n Celaya is in Guanajuato, which often has more homicides than any other state in Mexico<\/a>. Sixty police officers were killed in the state last year.<\/p>\n The violence reflects the struggle for territory and business among various organised crime groups<\/a>.<\/p>\n Just hours before her death, Gayt\u00e1n held a press conference in which she laid out her proposals to fight corruption and improve security in Celaya.<\/p>\n According to Data C\u00edvica, a research organisation that tracks political violence, roughly eight in every 10 attacks and murders happen at the municipal level.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is where organised crime can have greater territorial control,\u201d said Itxaro Arteta, from Data C\u00edvica. \u201cThe municipal governments control the local budget and the police \u2013 whether those police are doing everything they should be, or letting certain things happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Victims are distributed among all political parties, but murders most often target the candidate challenging the incumbent. An analysis of attacks during the 2021 elections<\/a> found that this was the case in 25 of 32 killings.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen a party is already governing, it is probable \u2013 though we can\u2019t be sure of anything \u2013 that there are power agreements [between local politicians and organised crime],\u201d said Arteta. \u201cAnd when there is a change of the party, you do see an increase in violence.\u201d<\/p>\n Various factors complicate the protection of candidates, from the weakness of local police to the fact that only a small minority of such murders are preceded by a threat.<\/p>\n The violence means that parties are struggling to find local candidates. Meanwhile, organised crime groups try to impose candidates on them.<\/p>\n In the state of Michoac\u00e1n, where two candidates for the same municipality were killed on the same day in February, at least 34 other candidates<\/a> have decided against running.<\/p>\n And Data C\u00edvica\u2019s latest research has found a negative correlation between attacks on civil servants and voter turnout.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the end, all of this in very concrete ways undermines democracy,\u201d said Arteta. \u201cIt leaves people with little certainty about the people they are voting for \u2013 and whether they will really be able to govern without bowing to organised crime.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n