The quest of a wealthy gambling tycoon and former Tijuana mayor to become governor of the Mexican state of Baja California has ended in failure, as preliminary returns showed he had lost to his rival from the president's National Action Party.With 91 percent of the ballots counted in Baja California, Jose Guadalupe Osuna of President Felipe Calderon's National Action Party had a 50 percent to 43 percent lead over ex-Tijuana Mayor Jorge Hank, a self-proclaimed billionaire with 19 children.
Osuna, a 51-year-old economist and career politician, claimed victory Sunday evening on the strength of exit polls, and called for reconciliation after a brutally negative campaign. But Hank, who also is 51, had yet to concede defeat. Official results are not due until Wednesday.
The vote capped an ugly race in which Osuna accused Hank of corruption and of ties to organized crime. Hank tried to present himself as a law-and-order candidate, despite having been accused of several crimes himself in the past; he has never been formally charged.
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