By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

          MEXICO CITY -- Local elections in four Mexican states on Sunday are viewed as an
          important test of the strength of the country's three major political parties ahead of the 2000
          presidential elections.

          The race for governor in the Pacific coast state of Sinaloa appeared too close to call between the
          candidates of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, known as the PRI, and the conservative
          National Action Party.

          The PRI -- which has held the Mexico's presidency and most statehouses for 69 years, and has so
          far won five of seven gubernatorial elections this year -- appears likely to hold on to a key
          governorship in central Puebla state.

          The left-center Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, was considered to have a chance of gaining
          its second governorship in the small central state of Tlaxcala. But results from an exit poll released by
          the University of Guadalajara an hour after polls closed showed the PRI leading with 40 percent of
          the vote.

          Official results weren't expected until Monday.

          "These elections will reflect on an important battle still to be fought among presidential candidates,"
          columnist Salvador Garcia Soto wrote in the newspaper La Cronica on Saturday.

          The governor's race in Sinaloa was the most closely watched and the most hotly contested. The state
          is plagued by drug-trafficking and high unemployment that has forced many residents to move --
          some to the United States -- in search of jobs.

          The PRI hopes internal reforms like the primary elections used to choose candidate Juan S. Millan
          will keep Sinaloa's 1.4 million voters loyal to the party. Before this year, the PRI chose such
          candidates in back-room deals at state assemblies.

          Millan has built his campaign on stronger anti-drug efforts.

          Many of the leaders of Mexico's largest drug cartels were born or lived in Sinaloa, including
          deceased drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes and the Arellano Felix brothers, now reportedly the
          country's top drug traffickers.

          National Action candidate Emilio Goicochea has focused on discontent with the state's continuing
          problems of low economic growth, crime and drugs.

          Everyone agrees the state's image needs a boost.

          "To guarantee jobs, investment, and education, we must change the state's image as soon as
          possible, there's no other way. We can't allow for the name of Sinaloa to be immediately associated
          with drug trafficking," Millan said recently.

          The political fortunes of three men widely seen as potential presidential candidates in 2000 could be
          affected by the results of the state races, which also include elections for the local legislature and
          mayorships in the central state of Michoacan.

          Old guard Gov. Manuel Bartlett could see his presidential prospects boosted by a PRI victory in
          Puebla, whose governorship he will be leaving after the elections.

          Interior Minister Francisco Labastida, also of PRI, could be helped by a ruling-party victory in his
          home state of Sinaloa. And Mexico City Mayor Cuauhtemoc Cardenas would get a boost from
          PRD victories in Tlaxcala or Michoacan, a state he once governed.

          Voting appeared to proceed smoothly in the four states, although witnesses said PRI and National
          Action activists were out in some neighborhoods offering money in exchange for votes. There were
          no immediate responses from the parties.
 
 
 

                     Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company