INE fines Nuevo León governor-elect’s party for role of influencer wife

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s electoral agency has fined the party of Samuel García, the winning state candidate for Governor of the Mexican state of Nuevo León with 55 million pesos (USD $2.75 million), ruling that he got prohibited support from his influencer wife’s social media posts.

The fine against governor-elect Samuel García has raised questions of electoral fairness, freedom of speech, and women’s rights. García won the June 6 elections in the northern border state of Nuevo Leon.

His supporters say a wife should be able to support her husband, and that regulators were treating Mariana Rodríguez like an object with a price.

The INE electoral agency says Rodríguez’s posts are part of a business, and the law forbids businesspeople from making in-kind donations. 

Samuel García is a member of the Movimiento Ciudadano, which is the political party that will have to pay the fine.

Source: El Universal