Mexican leftist's big lead narrows slightly: poll

Thomson Reuters

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's commanding lead over his closest rival narrowed slightly to 12 percentage points ahead of Sunday's presidential vote, according to a GEA/ISA poll published on Monday.

The survey showed Lopez Obrador, a former mayor of Mexico City, with 35 percent of the preferences in a poll conducted between June 15 and 17, compared to 37 percent of a survey in late May.

The 64-year-old Lopez Obrador, who is on his third bid for the presidency, has capitalized on growing frustration with the ruling party over record levels of violence, a series of political corruption scandals and sluggish economic growth.

Support for his closest rival, Ricardo Anaya, who leads a right-left coalition, held steady at 23 percent according to the nationwide survey of 1,070 people in their homes. The poll had a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points

Backing for Jose Antonio Meade, candidate of the ruling centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), rose to 21 percent from 17 percent in the previous survey.

(Reporting by Diego Ore. Editing by Michael O'Boyle)

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