The mayor of Moroleón, Guanajuato, took office this week, when she spoke earnestly about replacing her mother, a Citizens’ Movement candidate killed during the campaign for the June 6 elections.

Alma Rosa Barragán Santiago was murdered on May 25 during a campaign event in that municipality, located in the south of the state on the border with Michoacán.

According to witnesses, armed men arrived at the event and opened fire at the candidate. Two other people were wounded, the newspaper Milenio reported.

Alma Denisse Sánchez Barragán, her daughter, assumed the candidacy and won the contest. She said she felt conflicting emotions at her swearing-in ceremony.

“For me, being here today is something beautiful but at the same time it is very painful … Today I tell you with all my heart, today this is no longer just a town … today we are all Moroleón, a family,” she said.

“We can address pain in a good way, in a strong way, by uniting to keep moving forward,” she added.

The electoral season leading up to municipal, state and federal elections on June 6 was the most violent on record, according to a report by risk analysis firm Etellekt, which tracks election campaign violence. It showed that politicians and candidates were murdered in more than 20 states in the lead-up to the elections.

Guanajuato is never far from the discussion of violence. It tops the list as the worst state for homicides in terms of raw numbers.

President López Obrador has previously placed the blame squarely on state authorities, particularly state Attorney General Carlos Zamarripa.

“I urge the governor to do something … we don’t have support,” he said on August 30. “The attorney general has been there a long time, and there are no results.”

With reports from El Universal