Jorge Ramos’ political evolution from 2021 to 2026 presents a striking contrast. The former Tijuana mayor returned to the mayoral race in 2021 as a PAN candidate, when he sharply criticized Morena over the city’s deterioration and described Tijuana as “abandoned.” Five years later, Ramos is preparing to return to the Baja California Congress while backing Julieta Ramírez for governor of Baja California.
Following an unsuccessful bid to secure Morena’s state coordination himself, the local congressman on leave from the Green Ecologist Party (PVEM) plans to resume his congressional duties next week. Despite the internal party setback that led to Julieta Ramírez Padilla being selected to head the state coordination, Ramos has quickly pivoted, engaging in meetings tied to the political project of the metropolitan area.
Ramos recently ruled out another run for the Tijuana mayoralty and confirmed his full backing for Julieta Ramírez’s vision. While noting he holds no formal title in her team, he emphasized that he has met with her and her team several times to address demands he himself gathered across various neighborhoods.
This cooperative stance with Julieta Ramirez’s project marks a sharp departure from his rhetoric during the 2021 Tijuana municipal race.
In May 2021, as the candidate for “Va por Baja California” alliance just nine days before the election, Ramos leveled heavy accusations against Morena. He argued that the party’s policies were inflicting severe damage on the city, criticized two years of administrative improvisation, and contended that the government “was conspicuously absent” during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, characterizing Tijuana as abandoned.
At the time, Ramos promised a collaborative approach rather than confrontation with all levels of government. Five years later, he appears to have found out who to side with and it is someone in Morena.
Ramos’s language has evolved as well. He has dropped his direct criticism of the project he once faulted for Tijuana’s problems, and his rhetoric now strikes a very different note.
