1898 Mexican general election

The **1893 Mexican general election** was held on Sunday September 25, 1898 to elect members of the 13th Congress of Mexico, and was the third Mexican election to be held under the 1881 constitution, as well as the first election to be held under the National Elections Act 1894, which expanded the electoral franchise to four million Mexican citizens. The election was also the last of the 19th century.

In the aftermath of the First Mexican Revolution in 1869-70, the Restoration Party became the dominant Mexican political party, remaining in office during the transition from the Republic of Mexico into the Second Mexican Empire in 1881, and continuing to dominate during the early years of the new empire. After an economic crisis at the start of the 1890s prompted prime minister Ignacio Mariscal to hold snap elections, in which his Restoration Party lost their congressional majority, a coalition government was formed between the Restoration Party, the Mexican Radical Party, and the Progressive Party on February 7, 1983. During his third ministry, Ignacio Mariscal's government passed the National Elections Act 1894, which expanded the franchise to include up to six million voters, as well as loosening requirements on party registration. At the behest of Progressive Party leader Protasio Tagle, the act became the legislative priority of the government during its first year in office, before Mexican Radical Party leader Benito Juárez's flagship constitutional amendment process was opened in September 1894 to constitutionally limit the power of the government in the lives of citizens. In June 1898, Progressive Party leader Protasio Tagle was ousted by Manuel González, who withdrew the party's support for the government. With the political and economic status of Mexico having improved markedly since the last elections, prime minister Ignacio Mariscal requested the dissolution of the 12th Congress of Mexico in preparation for a snap general election designed to capitalise on the economic revival - subsequently on September 1, 1898, Emperor Pedro II dissolved congress in preparation for an election on September 25, 1898.

During the election on September 25, 1898 all three hundred and twenty seats in the Congress of Mexico were up for election through the first-past-the-post electoral system, meaning that the candidate with the highest number of votes in each constituency would be duly elected as the congressman for the region. Whilst elections were held simultaneously across the country, each individual Mexican state was responsible for drawing the constituency boundaries inside its territory, with each state being constitutionally limited to a maximum of ten constituencies.

The electoral campaign was dominated by the three major parties, as well as the State's Committee; the Restoration Party of Ignacio Mariscal campaigned on the promise of completing the restoration of the Mexican economy and continuing existing policies of tax cuts, armed forces expansions, and successful international trade deals. The Mexican Radical Party ran on a platform of preserving measures implemented during the coalition, pledging to preserve the constitutional amendment preventing government overreach and to abolish the Secretariat of the Interior and its associated cabinet office. The Progressive Party campaigned on its record in government and sought to further widen the electorate, boost scrutiny of politician's campaign donations, and introduce measures to make amending the constitution easier. The States' Committee sought to repeal the 1881 constitution of Mexico and turn the empire into a confederation of states under personal union with Pedro II of Mexico as the shared head of state.

On October 8, 1898, the results of the election were published in the Imperial Gazette in Mexico City. The Restoration Party won 146 out of the 320 seats, making it the largest party in congress with an increase but still without a majority, whilst the Mexican Radical Party won 97, the Progressive Party won 36, the States' Committee won 33, and independent congressmen won 8 seats. The newly elected 13th Congress of Mexico met for the first time on October 23, 1898 and would remain in session until January 1901. Due to the Restoration Party's failure to regain single party control over congress, prime minister Ignacio Mariscal attempted to continue his 1893 coalition government - however, following the removal of Protasio Tagle as leader of the Progressive Party, the party under the leadership of Manuel González refused to join a new coalition government. Mexican Radical Party leader Benito Juárez initially appeared willing to join a coalition, but was faced with strong internal opposition and ultimately declined to form a government. With no coalition partners, Restoration Party general secretary Ignacio Mariscal instead formed a minority administration on October 23, 1898. In January 1899, the Mexican Radical Party signed an external support agreement to help pass Restoration Party legislation without directly taking part in the government. In November 1898, Mexican Radical Party leader Benito Juárez was forced to resign by Bernardo Reyes, who assumed leadership of the party and terminated the support agreement. Without the backing of the Mexican Radical Party, Ignacio Mariscal's government became unable to pass legislation and subsequently collapsed in January 1901, prompting fresh elections.