TEXISTEPEC, Mexico (AP) — Gunmen killed a mayoral candidate from Mexico’s governing party in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz and four others who accompanied her, the second such local candidate killing in the state ahead of the June 1 election, authorities confirmed Monday.
There were reports later Monday that two federal agents were killed in another part of the state.
The attack on candidate Yesenia Lara Gutiérrez of the Morena party occurred Sunday when she was leading a caravan of supporters through Texistepec. Three more people were wounded.
Veracruz Gov. Rocío Nahle, also of the Morena party of President Claudia Sheinbaum, said Monday that Lara Gutiérrez’s daughter was among those killed.
Texistepec is a town of 20,000 southwest of the important petroleum industry port of Coatzacoalcos.
“No (elected) position is worth dying for,” Nahle said in a press conference Monday, where she promised justice.
“All of the state’s power will be present in coming days so that the elections are free and democratic,” she said.
At a wake Monday in Texistepec, family and friends mourned Lara Gutiérrez and spoke about the fear the violence stirred around the election.
“We can’t continue with the insecurity, we’re tired of all of this, this is terrorism,” said supporter Joaquín Fonseca. “There are five people dead, not one. We’re living the worst of the terrorism.”
Family friend Cruz Morales said the violence is so bad that “we’re afraid to go into the fields, to go see our family in the evening, because we don’t know what’s going to happen to us on the way.”
Lara Gutiérrez was the second mayoral candidate killed in Veracruz during the campaign. On April 29, the first official day of campaigning, gunmen killed Germán Anuar Valencia, also from the governing party at his campaign headquarters in Coxquihui in the northern part of Veracruz.
Nahle said that 57 local candidates had requested security offered by the state and federal government. It was not immediately clear if Lara Gutiérrez had.
Municipal elections are scheduled in Veracruz’s 212 municipalities for June 1.
Local candidates are historically the most vulnerable to election violence as organized criminal groups seek to gain control of local governments.
Later Monday, local press reported that two federal agents and a third person were killed in an attack in the coastal city of Boca del Rio, Veracruz. An Associated Press photojournalist saw federal agents and soldiers maintaining a perimeter around the scene of the shooting.
Neither state nor federal authorities immediately responded to requests to confirm the toll.
Alemán reported from Xalapa, Mexico.
Navy officers stand guard near a vehicle involved in a shootout in Veracruz, Mexico, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Victoria Razo)
Members of the general prosecutor's office and the Navy stand guard near a vehicle involved in a shootout in Veracruz, Mexico, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Victoria Razo)
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Richard “Dick” Codey, a former acting governor of New Jersey and the longest serving legislator in the state's history, died Sunday. He was 79.
Codey’s wife, Mary Jo Codey, confirmed her husband’s death to The Associated Press.
“Gov. Richard J. Codey passed away peacefully this morning at home, surrounded by family, after a brief illness,” Codey's family wrote in a Facebook post on Codey's official page.
"Our family has lost a beloved husband, father and grandfather -- and New Jersey lost a remarkable public servant who touched the lives of all who knew him," the family said.
Known for his feisty, regular-guy persona, Codey was a staunch advocate of mental health awareness and care issues. The Democrat also championed legislation to ban smoking from indoor areas and sought more money for stem cell research.
Codey, the son of a northern New Jersey funeral home owner, entered the state Assembly in 1974 and served there until he was elected to the state Senate in 1982. He served as Senate president from 2002 to 2010.
Codey first served as acting governor for a brief time in 2002, after Christine Todd Whitman’s resignation to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He held the post again for 14 months after Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.
At that time, New Jersey law mandated that the Senate president assume the governor’s role if a vacancy occurred, and that person would serve until the next election.
Codey routinely drew strong praise from residents in polls, and he gave serious consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005. But he ultimately chose not to run when party leaders opted to back wealthy Wall Street executive Jon Corzine, who went on to win the office.
Codey would again become acting governor after Corzine was incapacitated in April 2007 due to serious injuries he suffered in a car accident. He held the post for nearly a month before Corzine resumed his duties.
After leaving the governor’s office, Codey returned to the Senate and also published a memoir that detailed his decades of public service, along with stories about his personal and family life.
“He lived his life with humility, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility to others,” his family wrote. “He made friends as easily with Presidents as he did with strangers in all-night diners.”
Codey and his wife often spoke candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression, and that led to controversy in early 2005, when a talk radio host jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air.
Codey, who was at the radio station for something else, confronted the host and said he told him that he wished he could “take him outside.” But the host claimed Codey actually threatened to “take him out,” which Codey denied.
His wife told The Associated Press that Codey was willing to support her speaking out about postpartum depression, even if it cost him elected office.
“He was a really, really good guy,” Mary Jo Codey said. “He said, ‘If you want to do it, I don’t care if I get elected again.’”
Jack Brook contributed reporting from New Orleans.
FILE - New Jersey State Sen. and former Democratic Gov. Richard Codey is seen before New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
