Leonel Efraín Cota Montaño (born 23 April 1958, in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

) is a Mexican politician. He is a former governor of

Baja California Sur Baja California Sur (; 'South Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California Sur), is the least populated state and the 31st admitted state of the 32 federal ent ...

and former president of the

Party of the Democratic Revolution The Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD, es, Partido de la Revolución Democrática, ) is a social democratic political party in Mexico. The PRD originated from the Democratic Current, a political faction formed in 1986 from the Institut ...

(PRD). He was the first non-PRI governor of

. Leonel Cota studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He began his political career as a member of the

Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party ( es, Partido Revolucionario Institucional, ; abbr. PRI) is a political party in Mexico that was founded in 1929 and held uninterrupted power in the country for 71 years, from 1929 to 2000, first as the Nati ...

(PRI), which he represented in the Chamber of Deputies from 1994 to 1996 and as

municipal president A ''presidente municipal'' (English: "municipal president") is the chief of government of municipios in Mexico. This title was also used in the Philippines under the Spanish and American colonization; it is comparable to a mayor of the town or city ...

La Paz La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities ...

, from 1997 to 1999. In 1999 he lost the PRI candidacy for governor of Baja California Sur. He quit the PRI and instead ran for governor representing a coalition of the Party of the Democratic Revolution and the Labor Party (PT). He won the election and served as governor from 1999 to 2005. In 2005 Cota became president of the PRD with over 76% of the vote. He would later shift to Nueva Alianza in a failed bid for the Municipal Presidency of Los Cabos. He would then revert to PRD, for the 2012 general elections, looking for a Senate seat. This makes PAN the only major Mexican political party to which he has not belonged.

External links

La Jornada: Leonel Cota, virtual presidente del PRD
1958 births Living people Governors of Baja California Sur Politicians from Baja California Sur Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Mexico) Presidents of the Party of the Democratic Revolution National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni People from Los Cabos Municipality Institutional Revolutionary Party politicians Municipal presidents in Baja California Sur {{Mexico-deputy-InstitutionalRevolutionary-1950s-stub