2004 Tamaulipas state election

NUEVO LAREDO Daniel Peña Treviño claimed victory in the city's mayoral race late Sunday.

Peña Treviño, representing the Institutional Revolutionary Party (known by its Spanish initials PRI) was leading four other candidates with a 2.5-to-1 margin, election officials reported.

He won 57 percent of 405 precincts counted as of press time.

As Peña Treviño claimed victory, opponents Hector (Teto) Peña Saldaña of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PDR) and Arturo San Miguel Cantu of the National Action Party (PAN) refused to concede and instead presented evidence of voting irregularities to members of the media.

Ramón Garza Barrios and Carlos Montiel Saheb, state legislators who were also claimed victory in their races Sunday night, raised their arms in triumph with Peña Treviño at the party's headquarters here.

"This is how the vote went. The victory belongs to all of you. We worked hard to improve ourselves and the voters responded," Peña Treviño said in his victory speech. "I am happy. I am in debt to (the public). Nuevo Laredo has a new face."

Meanwhile, at PAN's campaign headquarters, San Miguel Cantu and party President Jorge Salinas Falcon alleged irregularities in precinct 896.

They said 734 ballots were counted but only 634 are registered to vote in that precinct.

PRDs Peña Saldaña also claimed irregularities in the voting process.

"We have photographs, video in which we have recorded irregularities with PRI," he said. "We will present our evidence to election officials."

A PRI spokesman said his party's candidates won because of voters preferences, and that opponents should accept the results.

Peña Treviño expressed gratitude to the state's new governor for his support in the race.

PRI candidate Eugenio Hernandez Flores won the race for Tamaulipa's state governor.

Local and state winners assume office Jan. 1. The new Nuevo Laredo mayor and city council will have a 3-year term, ending on Dec. 31, 2007.