Causes and electoral consequences of political assassinations: The role of organized crime in Mexico

Mexico has experienced a notable surge in assassinations of political candidates and mayors. This article that these killings are largely driven by organized crime, aiming to influence candidate selection, control governments for rent-seeking, and retaliate against government crackdowns. Using a new dataset of assassinations in Mexico from 2000 to 2021 and instrumental variables, we address endogeneity concerns location and timing of government crackdowns. Our instruments include historical Chinese immigration linked to opium cultivation in Mexico, local corn prices, and U.S. illicit drug prices. The findings reveal candidates in municipalities near oil pipelines face an increased risk of assassination due to drug trafficking organizations expanding into oil theft, particularly during elections and fuel price hikes. Government arrests killings of organized crime members trigger retaliatory violence, further endangering incumbent mayors. political violence has a negligible impact on voter turnout, as it targets politicians rather than voters. However, voter turnout increases in areas where authorities disrupt drug smuggling, raising the chances of the local being re-elected. These results offer new insights into how criminal groups attempt to capture local governments and the implications for democracy under criminal governance.