Even by Mexican standards for whimsical political acts, the election this past October of an independent candidate for state governorship has to rank among the top in the "would you believe it?" category.
Jaime Heliodoro Rodríguez Calderon, 57, a product of the Mexican ejido Pablillo, a municipality of Galena, and one of 10 children born to campesinos Lichita Calderon and Rodolfo Rodriguez, overwhelmingly beat the PRI and PAN candidates for governor in the June 2 elections and took office October 15.
He is popularly known as El Bronco. He is the first independent candidate to have won a governorship in Mexico. He served as mayor of Garcia, Nuevo Leon (2009–2012) as a member of the Institutional Party (PRI), and was best known for his hard-line stance against organized crime. He won half the vote for the election compared to his traditional party competitors, who split the remainder of the votes. He will serve as governor until 2021.Rodríguez attended primary school at Squadron 201 in Ejido Pablillo. He attended secondary school at Miguel Hidalgo in Galeana.
He majored in Agricultural Engineering in the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon and graduated in 1982.
According to his own accounts, this was made possible by a benefactor, Don Protacio Rodriguez, owner of Transportes Tamaulipas (now Senda Group).
Don Protacio gave Rodríguez a card that allowed him to travel to Monterrey for his studies. Toward the end of his studies he performed a symbolic strike at the university, calling on governor Alfonso Martinez Dominguez to increase support for public transportation.
After the strike, and with the support of the governor, he established a scholarship for poor students struggling to pay for their education.
Upon graduation, he joined the Institutional Revolutionary Party and worked for Governor Dominguez.
Rodríguez was a member of the PRI for 33 years and served as a federal deputy in 1992, local MP in 1997, and Mayor of Garcia.
During his term as mayor of Garcia, Rodríguez was the target of violent attacks. The 2013 hit song "El Bronco sin Miedo" ('The Bronco Without Fear') recounted the attacks.
In the 2015 election, Rodríguez ran against Ivonne Alvarez (PRI) and Felipe Cantu(PAN).
He first expressed an interest in running as an independent candidate in late 2014. By the second week of January his supporters collected 150,000 signatures, exceeding the 103,000 required to meet the 3 percent of the population minimum for independent candidates to get on the ballot. By February he had more than 334,000 signatures. Election authorities officially added his name on 2 March.
During his campaign, he pledged to take no money from big donors and would often hold out his hat to take small donations from popular supporters across Nuevo Leon.
One of his first acts was to close the opulent summer governor's home called "La Casa del Gobierno" which was used by former governors from 1991 to 2009 and by Rodrigo Medina as his personal home since. It was equipped with a heliport, a swimming pool, with ample gardens and conference rooms for the state meetings.
"It's a beautiful house, but it's a luxury that the tate taxpayers won't have to pay. With the $5 million (pesos) that the state will save, we can build student dormitories for students from Southern Nuevo Leon in La Chona."Other "eccentricities" was the dictum that his staff will no longer accept free meals or gratuities from restaurants or businesses and that he will from now on ride a motorcycle instead of his horse "Tornado."
He also did away with the governor's luxurious chair and his paneled desk saying that these objects stood in the way of his contact with the common people and that it caused illnesses associated with power and egomania. His last act has been to open a contest to all Nuevo Leonseses to design a logo for his administration. The prize? A meal accompanied by the governor.
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