2012 elections , Mexico City.|left On 6 January 2012, Mancera resigned as Attorney General to run for Head of Government in the
1 July 2012 election.
Jesús Rodríguez Almeida succeeded him in the role. Two days later, on 8 January, Mancera registered as a
Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) precandidate for head of government of Mexico City. On 19 January, he was named the official candidate, representing the leftist
Progressive Movement coalition, which also included the
Labor Party, and the
Citizen's Movement. He ran against
Alejandra Barrales,
Gerardo Fernández Noroña,
Martí Batres, and Joel Ortega Cuevas. Mancera's opponents were
Beatriz Paredes Rangel, representing the
Institutional Revolutionary Party–
Ecologist Green Party of Mexico coalition
Commitment to Mexico;
Isabel Miranda de Wallace, for the
National Action Party (PAN); and Rosario Guerra for the
New Alliance Party. Late-January polls showed Mancera leading Paredes by 18 to 30 points, though his support dropped nine points the following month. According to
El Universal, his favorability rose from 36 percent in March to 41 percent in April, and to 57.5 percent in May. That same month, Adolfo Hellmund,
Luis Mandoki, and Costa Bonino allegedly borrowed six million dollars on behalf of Mancera and López Obrador at the home of Luis Creel. Both politicians denied involvement, and Mancera filed a complaint with the Attorney General of Mexico City for unauthorized use of his name. As candidate, the proposals of Mancera included continuing Ebrard's policies, increasing the number of security cameras from 13,000 to 20,000, reducing car travel times, expanding
Mexico City Metro Line 12, addressing solid waste management, removing
minibuses from circulation, building 18 water purification plants, implementing a
Green Plan, and replacing garbage trucks to enable the separation of organic and inorganic waste, among other initiatives. On 1 July 2012, exit polls indicated Mancera as the likely winner of the election, with an estimated vote share of 59.5–64.5 percent, placing him roughly 40 percentage points ahead of the second-place candidate, Paredes. which he received on 8 October 2012.
First year Mancera assumed office on 5 December 2012, as the sixth head of government of the Federal District. On 24 December of the same year, he launched a
voluntary disarmament campaign in the borough of
Iztapalapa. In exchange for turning in firearms and grenades, participants received money,
tablet computers, or home appliances. The program was later implemented across all Mexico City boroughs in the following years.
City Mayors Foundation named Mancera the mayor of June 2013. In November 2013, Mancera opened
Line 5 of the
Mexico City Metrobús running along northeastern Mexico City from
Río de los Remedios to
San Lázaro metro station. In the same month, Mancera announced the increase of the
Mexico City Metro fare, raising the price from three to five pesos per ride. According to the Metro operator, Sistema Transporte Colectivo, the additional revenue would be used to improve infrastructure and maintain the system's
twelve lines and
its stations. The fare increase drew criticism from parts of the city's population, who viewed it as a strain on household finances, especially given that the minimum wage in Mexico City was 64.76 pesos as of January 2013. In response, Mancera stated that three
polling companies would conduct surveys with 7,200 Metro riders between 29 November and 2 December to gather public opinion—the sample represented less than one percent of the system's 5.5 million daily users. According to polling company results, over 50 percent of respondents supported the fare increase. The new fare was approved to take effect on 13 December. Due to this, through the short-lived
Movimiento Pos Me Salto, users called to civil disobedience protests by jumping over the
turnstiles. However, Mexico City Government announced they would take legal actions against those who skip them.
Second year pictured'') were closed for twenty months due to safety concerns.|alt=An metro station above an avenue.|left On 11 March 2014, Mancera's administration closed twelve
metro stations on
Line 12 of the Metro due to construction-related issues. Metro authorities stated the shutdown would last at least six months, or until "the necessary studies, corrections, and maintenance are carried out to ensure user safety". The line had been inaugurated just a few months earlier, on 30 October 2012, by Ebrard. Twelve curves suffered significant damage in their tracks, and there was wear on the rails due to incompatibility with the
FE-10 model trains.
ICA,
Grupo Carso and
Alstom, the consortium that built the line, denied any wrongdoing. Bernardo Quintana, president of ICA, described the closure as "arbitrary" and stated that proper maintenance and measures to address the incompatibilities were necessary for the line to function correctly. In addition, the
Superior Auditor of the Federation detected a diversion of 7.5 billion pesos from the
Secretariat of Communications and Transportation during the construction of the line. Thirty-three officials and former officials, including Enrique Horcasitas, the director of the Line 12 project, were sanctioned with disqualifications from public service, fines, or both, due to project failures and cost overruns. The relationship between Mancera and Ebrard became strained amid efforts to investigate Ebrard for possible corruption, which he described as a
smear campaign. The administration introduced a basic
driving test for all new
driver's license applicants. Previously, individuals only needed to present identification, proof of residence, and pay a fee, without having to demonstrate any driving knowledge or skill. The environmental program , which restricts certain vehicles from circulating in the city one day a week based on their license plate number,
Third year in
Plaza de la Solidaridad Mexico City's taxis had their traditional green color replaced with a white-and-
Mexican-pink color scheme. In May 2015, Mancera signed a law granting universal access to individuals accompanied by
assistance dogs. In July, Mancera reshuffled his cabinet, reassigning several secretaries to different positions. In the same month, Mancera's administration announced a major urban development project: the (Creative Cultural Corridor, or CCC), aimed at revitalizing , a thoroughfare connecting
Chapultepec Park to the
Zona Rosa neighborhood. Mexican architect
Fernando Romero was appointed to lead the design team, alongside architects Juan Pablo Maza and Ruysdael Vivanco. The plan included preserving the avenue's trees and the
Chapultepec aqueduct, while prioritizing pedestrian and cyclist access. The project later received the
International Architecture Award in the Urban Planning category. On 29 November, the government reopened all the Line 12 stations that had been closed in 2014. In December, following a public consultation with residents of
Cuauhtémoc, the borough where Chapultepec is located, 63 percent voted against the CCC project, leading to its official cancellation.
Fourth year Mancera inaugurated
Line 6 of the Mexico City Metrobús on 21 January 2016, serving northern Mexico City from
El Rosario metro station to
Villa de Aragón metro station. That same month, on 29 January, following a political reform, Mexico City, then officially known as the Federal District, was renamed (City of Mexico), and commonly abbreviated as CDMX. According to a March poll by
El Universal, Mancera's approval rating had dropped to 24 percent and 57 percent of disapproval. Survey respondents identified insecurity, corruption, unemployment, and poverty as the most pressing issues. Mancera announced that for the first time since 2004, a
Major League Baseball game would be held in Mexico City, as the
Houston Astros and
San Diego Padres played two exhibition games at
Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium on 26 and 27 March. In April, construction began on the westbound expansion of Line 12. The project included plans to build two additional stations and to extend the line's terminal at
Observatorio metro station. In July, the city distributed plastic
whistles as a means of defense against
sexual harassment targeting women, a measure that was criticized as ineffective. In August, the city's public markets were designated intangible cultural heritage as a way to ensure their preservation.
Fifth year (bottom left corner) during rescue coordination efforts on 19 September 2017. The city's constitution was enacted on 5 February 2017, and was set to take effect on 17 September 2018. Mancera served as president of the
National Conference of Governors from 3 May to 13 December 2017. On 19 September 2017, a 7.1
earthquake hit Mexico City at 13:14
CDT (18:14
UTC). He led the annual national drill commemorating the 1985 earthquake, held two hours earlier. In the city, over 220 people died, at least 44 buildings collapsed, and over 3,000 others were evicted. There were nearly 6,000 complaints regarding
construction violations since 2012. In 2016, Mancera had halted the law that allowed city departments to penalize Directors Responsible for Construction, the officials in charge of overseeing earthquake resilience. Critics like Josefina MacGregor from the association Suma Urbana, saw it as a way to prioritize
urban development over safety. Mancera stated that new regulations were not a factor in the collapse, as many buildings had been constructed before 1985 and were not required to meet the updated standards. However, pre-1985 buildings with newer additions were required to comply with these regulations.
Sixth year Line 7 of the Metrobús system opened on 5 March 2018, running along
Paseo de la Reforma. On 29 March of that year, Mancera left the post of city head after requesting leave to run as a
proportional-representation Senate candidate for the PAN in the
July elections.
José Ramón Amieva succeeded him as interim head of government. Mancera left office with the lowest approval rating in 20 years, facing criticism over rising insecurity and affected by internal conflicts within the PRD.
Investigations of Miguel Ángel Mancera's administration When
Claudia Sheinbaum took office as Mancera's successor as head of government of Mexico City, the city's Attorney General's Office launched several investigations. These focused on prosecuting various crimes and administrative offenses allegedly committed during Mancera's administration, including actions involving some of his close collaborators. In 2020, 1,680 public servants were sanctioned by Mexico City Comptroller Office. On 5 October 2020, the
Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary sanctioned Mancera with a one-year disqualification to any public role in Mexico City after determining that he promoted a presidential candidate,
Ricardo Anaya, in 2018, while being head of government, and sanctioned by Mexican electoral laws. ==Senator of the Republic==