Mexico’s presidential candidates promise security or continuity as campaigns officially begin WHIO TV 7 and WHIO Radio [Video]

IRAPUATO, Mexico — (AP) — Tens of thousands of people packed a stadium in a violence-torn western Mexico state while even more did so in Mexico City’s central square Friday as the country’s leading presidential candidates officially kicked off their campaigns with promises of greater security and support for the outgoing president’s social programs.

Former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s chosen successor, drew a multitude of supporters to the heart of the capital who expressed a desire to see her continue her mentor’s policies.

In Irapuato, Guanajuato, the country’s homicide capital, there was no greater priority than improving security.

Opposition coalition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez launched an aggressive attack on López Obrador’s security policies Friday and said voters would have a clear choice of continuing on the same path or electing her to take a much more aggressive approach to securing the nation.

Malena Gómez, an Irapuato resident and activist with a civic group, …