Mexican leftist extends lead in presidential race: poll

Mexican leftist presidential contender Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has stretched his lead over rivals ahead of a July 1 election, a new voter survey by polling firm Mitofsky showed late on Thursday.

Lopez Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor, garnered 29.5 percent support in the poll conducted from March 16-18, up from 27.1 percent in a previous Mitofsky survey last month.

Running second was former National Action Party chairman Ricardo Anaya, who heads a right-left alliance, though his support slipped 1.1 percentage points to 21.2 percent.

In third place was Jose Antonio Meade of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), who slipped by 1.6 percentage points to 16.4 percent, the poll showed.