María Eugenia Campos Galván (born 11 September 1975), commonly known as Maru Campos, is a Mexican politician and lawyer affiliated with the National Action Party (PAN). She has served as Governor of the State of Chihuahua since 2021, becoming the first woman to hold the position. Before that, she was a federal deputy in the LX Legislature of the Mexican Congress from 2013 to 2016, and later served as mayor of Chihuahua City from 2016 to 2021, elected the first female and the first person to be democratically re-elected for a second term.
Personal life
María Eugenia Campos Galván was born on 11 September 1975 in Chihuahua City. She is the daughter of engineer Manuel Campos Cepeda and politician María Eugenia Galván Antillón, who served as a federal deputy in Mexico's LVIII Legislature and later as Secretary of Social Development for the state of Chihuahua. The family also included her younger brother, Guillermo Federico, a public official and politician who died in a car accident in Mexico City on 14 November 2011, shortly after attending the funeral of Francisco Blake Mora.
She spent her childhood in her hometown, where she completed her primary and secondary education at the Instituto La Salle. From a young age, she took part in missionary work in the Sierra Tarahumara, particularly in the municipalities of Bocoyna and Batopilas, an experience that deeply shaped her social awareness and commitment to community service.
In August 1994, she enrolled at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, Chihuahua campus, where she pursued a law degree, graduating in December 1999. During her undergraduate studies, she practiced civil law at a local law firm and participated in an academic exchange at Harvard Kennedy School.
She later earned a master's degree in Latin American Studies and Government from Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service. Additionally, she obtained a master's degree in Public Administration and Public Policy from ITESM's Graduate School of Public Administration and Public Policy. Campos Galván has also completed several specialized programs and diplomas in governance, democratic transitions, political theory, and political communication through institutions such as Ibero-American University, the Christian Democrat Organization of America, Georgetown University, and the National Democratic Institute.
Political career
Early political involvement At the age of 22, María Eugenia Campos Galván joined the National Action Party (PAN). Since 1998, she has served as a state councilor for her party, and since 2007, as a national councilor. From 1997 to 1999, she was State Secretary of Acción Juvenil, the youth wing of PAN in Chihuahua.
In 2000, she entered public service through the Congress of Chihuahua, working as an advisor to PAN's parliamentary group. She later moved to Mexico City, where she served as an advisor to the Energy Committee in the Chamber of Deputies, and subsequently as private secretary and technical secretary to the General Directorate of Political Development in the Secretariat of the Interior.
From 2004 to 2006, she was the National Executive Committee's representative in Washington, D.C. During PAN's internal race to choose its presidential candidate for the 2006 federal elections, she was National Coordinator for Women in the campaign of pre-candidate Santiago Creel.
Federal government official (2009–2012) In December 2009, Campos Galván was appointed State Delegate of Liconsa, a state-owned company under the social development sector dedicated to combating food poverty. In this role, she reorganized administrative processes and internal controls for the fresh milk purchasing program in the state. She also reported a recurring case of fund misappropriation involving Industrias Lácteas de Chihuahua—a subsidiary of the Spanish company Industrias Lácteas Asturianas. In May 2011, after receiving threats, she resigned from her post for personal security reasons.
She later served as an advisor at the General Directorate of the Comisión Federal de Electricidad, where she coordinated the company's social outreach efforts and institutional relations with federal entities and the Mexican Congress.
In the 2012 federal elections, she ran as PAN's candidate for federal deputy in Electoral District 8, which at the time covered the northern and eastern areas of Chihuahua City. She obtained 31.48% of the vote, coming within fewer than eight thousand votes of the winning Institutional Revolutionary Party candidate, Pedro Ignacio Domínguez Zepeda.
Congresswoman
Federal deputy (2006–2009)
In the 2006 federal elections, María Eugenia Campos Galván was elected as a federal deputy for the National Action Party through proportional representation. She took office on September 1 of that year as a member of the LX Legislature of the Mexican Congress.
She served as secretary of the Foreign Affairs Committee and as a member of the committees on the Federal District, Public Administration, and the Special Committee for State Reform.
During her term, she introduced multiple legislative initiatives and proposals. Among them were: the creation of the Unified Registry of Secured Transactions, which took effect in August 2009; a constitutional amendment requiring congressional approval for the President of the Republic to travel abroad for up to seven days; a reform strengthening the powers of the Bank of Mexico to promote economic growth and job creation; and the design and implementation of comprehensive strategies to address challenges along the northern border. She also secured federal support for the construction of a children's hospital in Chihuahua City.
Campos Galván also backed several reforms that were approved and later published in the Official Journal of the Federation, including: strengthening the oversight powers of the Superior Auditor of the Federation; elevating the right to public information to constitutional status; reducing both public and private funding for political parties; increasing penalties for organized crime; enacting the Law for the Promotion and Development of Biofuels; promoting women's participation in rural economic development; advancing training and formal recognition for Indigenous midwives; and disqualifying public officials from service if they failed to submit their asset declarations without justified cause.
Local deputy (2013–2016)
In the 2013 state elections, she ran as the PAN candidate for local deputy in Chihuahua's 17th electoral district, which covers the eastern part of the capital. She won with 47.84% of the vote, finishing more than six points ahead of the runner-up.
She took office on October 1 of that year as a member of the LXIV Legislature of the Congress of the State of Chihuahua. She served as secretary of the Committees on Programming, Budget, and Public Finance, and on Oversight (Auditing). She was also a member of the First Committee on Governance and Constitutional Affairs, as well as the committees on Energy; Economy; the Special Committee to review executive-branch performance reports; the Special Committee to review government reports; and the working group on reform of the state legislature. In addition, she served as deputy floor leader of the PAN caucus.
Her legislative work included initiatives to enact a State Regulatory Improvement and Austerity Law; a State Law on Addiction Prevention; a State Scholarships and Loans Law; and the law establishing the "School for Mothers, Fathers, and Guardians" program. She also introduced proposals incorporated into the new State Civil Pensions Law; requested audits of the Coordinadora de Transporte Colectivo due to irregularities detected in the Vivebús system; pressed for enforcement of the 50% fare discount on urban and semi-urban transit; called for publication of the regulations to the Animal Welfare Law; urged an expansion of the fuel price equalization program to lower gasoline prices; and repeatedly opposed debt increases requested by the state government.
In 2016, she requested leave from her post to seek the PAN nomination for mayor of her hometown.
Mayor of Chihuahua City (2016–2021)
2016 election
After securing a leave of absence from her position as a local deputy, she registered on March 3, 2016, as a contender for the mayoralty of Chihuahua City, receiving her official certificate as a pre-candidate two days later.
From April 28 to June 1 of that year, she conducted her campaign as the PAN candidate. In the election, she received a total of 154,229 votes—44.33% of all ballots cast. This not only returned the municipal government to her party but also set a record for the largest winning margin in the city's history, surpassing her closest rival by 63,312 votes, an 18.2% difference.
Days after the election, she received her official certificate as mayor-elect and was welcomed by then-mayor Javier Garfio Pacheco to begin the transition process.
First term (2016–2018)
On October 10, 2016, she was sworn in as the first woman to serve as mayor of Chihuahua City, for the 2016–2018 term. Campos Galván launched Escudo Chihuahua ("Chihuahua Shield"), a security platform that included vehicle inspection arches and license plate–reading cameras at the city's geographic limits, as well as the installation of over 500 surveillance cameras—up from just six functioning units when she took office. She equipped municipal patrol cars with tablets and provided body cameras to police officers. A new municipal intelligence, monitoring, and operations center was built, linked to more than 3,000 privately owned cameras, along with a new police station in the Riberas del Sacramento neighborhood.
She repaired the city's police helicopter, unused for years, and acquired the first municipal tactical vehicle for high-risk interventions. She established the Pink Squad to address and prevent domestic violence and introduced a panic button system for businesses and mobile phones through the city's "Marca el Cambio" ("Make the Change") app. With support from the United States Agency for International Development, she launched Mi Colonia es Mi Casa ("My Neighborhood Is My Home"), a social intervention and public space improvement program. During her first term, overall crime rates dropped by 28%, and homicides fell by 49%. She implemented an austerity plan that saved approximately 100 million pesos and increased municipal revenue without raising property taxes. As a result, Chihuahua improved its credit rating to BBB+ with Fitch Ratings and AA+ with HR Ratings.
Municipal regulations were reformed so that city council sessions and procurement processes were broadcast live on social media. The municipal gazette began digital publication, and she created an internal control office. She introduced the triple helix governance model—linking government, academia, and industry—and improved the city's transparency rating to 94 out of 100 from the Chihuahua State Transparency Institute, doubling the national score assigned by Ciudadanos por Municipios Transparentes (Citizens for Transparent Municipalities). Chihuahua became one of only three municipalities in Mexico to comply fully with the new governmental accounting law. Campos Galván led an official ceremony to issue an institutional apology for the 2013 Aeroshow tragedy, provided compensation to victims and their families, and built a memorial to honor them.