Dora Patricia Mercado Castro (; born 1957 in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora) is a Mexican feminist politician. She is a founder, former president and the 2006 presidential candidate of the extinct

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

. Mercado Castro received a bachelor's degree in economics from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). In 1992 she received a scholarship from the

MacArthur Foundation The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in approximately 50 countries around the world. It has an endowment of $7.0 billion and p ...

and three years later, she represented Mexico in the World Conference on Women in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China. Although in 1991 she was a candidate of the Labor Party to the Chamber of Deputies, she is better known for competing in the primary election for the

Social Democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

(in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: ''Democracia Social'') nomination in the 2000 presidential elections against party leader Gilberto Rincón Gallardo and heading ''

México Posible México Posible ( en, Possible Mexico) was a Mexican political party of brief existence which took part in the midterm 2003 Mexican legislative election. The party was led by Patricia Mercado. Due to its not achieving 2.0% of the national vote t ...

'', a defunct political party that failed to secure its registry in the 2003 federal election. While in campaign, she actively promoted

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

rights, gay marriage, the legalization of marijuana and unsuccessfully took several

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

s to court for distributing political pamphlets against her party. She was the presidential candidate for Alternativa during the

2006 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2006. * Elections in 2006 * Electoral calendar 2006 * 2006 Acehnese regional election * 2006 American Samoan legislative election * 2006 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2006 Costa Rican president ...

, obtaining 2.7% of the popular vote, which was enough to secure the party's national registration. Her campaign was considered particularly successful, considering she ran without any private or public funding. The first presidential debate during the campaign is considered her best performance.

References

1957 births Living people Mexican feminists National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni Candidates in the 2006 Mexican presidential election People from Ciudad Obregón Politicians from Sonora Mexican abortion-rights activists Mexican LGBT rights activists Labor Party (Mexico) politicians Social Democratic Party (Mexico) politicians Social Democracy (Mexico) politicians 21st-century Mexican politicians 21st-century Mexican women politicians Members of the Senate of the Republic (Mexico) Women members of the Senate of the Republic (Mexico) {{Mexico-politician-stub