Judicial Candidates Try TikTok and Tinder in Mexico’s Sprawling Elections

They weren’t allowed to buy ads on television, radio, billboards or online. Mexico barred them from public funding or receiving campaign contributions. National debates were difficult, if not impossible, to mount.

So people running to be judges across Mexico were largely left with social media.

In one widely seen video, one Supreme Court candidate argued that he was as well seasoned as the fried pork sold on the streets. Another Supreme Court candidate styled herself Dora the Transformer, a spin on the cartoon character Dora the Explorer. Another Supreme Court candidate used dating apps so that, in his words, prospective voters could match with justice and then chat about the issues.

The strict campaign limits, in contrast to traditional rules for presidential or congressional elections, are part of Mexico’s sprawling, first-ever elections on Sunday. Voters will choose nearly 2,700 federal and state judicial positions at every level of the courts, with federal seats, like those on the Supreme Court, chosen at the national level and a host of officials elected locally.

In other elections, political parties can finance their candidates’ campaigns. But for these races, the governing party says it wanted to preserve some parity among candidates, and to limit outside influence on campaigns.

So judicial aspirants have had to use their own money, with specified spending limits, leading to homemade, over-the-top and sometimes comical marketing efforts on social media to attract attention.

“We’re not known people and we have to distinguish ourselves,” said Carlos Odriozola Mariscal, 54, a longtime lawyer who founded a human rights nonprofit and whose campaign for the Supreme Court began using dating apps to reach voters.