And VW has a closer challenger in its rear-view mirror: Hyundai-Kia, which is pushing upmarket while continuing to churn out small, good-value motors.
The next season, Gretzky scored 88 goals as a nine-year-old; his closest challenger was a 15-year-old who scored 19.
In late August, the country's most influential daily newspaper, Kompas, displayed his photo on its front page three days in a row along with poll results showing him with nearly double the support of the closest challenger, a retired Army general.
An exit poll conducted today by TV Azteca, one of two main national networks, showed Mr. Aleman winning 43percentt of the votes in Veracruz, on the Gulf Coast, and his closest challenger, a university professor from the National Action Party, receiving 25percentt, Sergio Sarmiento, the TV Azteca news director, said in an interview.
He is able to attack the gang of incumbents – Mr. James, the Municipal Council and Ronald L. Rice, his closest challenger and a deputy mayor – while advancing his image as a reformer focused on efficiency and results.
His closest challenger, Troy Henry, a businessman and first-time candidate, had 14 percent.
The results of an audit by the country's Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC), published on Monday October 19th, put Mr Karzai's share of the vote a couple of points below the 50% that he required to win another term without facing a run-off against his closest challenger, Abdullah Abdullah.But the UN-backed electoral commission is not the only game in town.
Exit polls show that he excelled in pretty much every category: he carried the black and white votes, and he beat his closest challenger, Steve Sauerberg, a Republican, among voters of every age and income, except those who make more than $200,000 a year.
His closest challenger, Ahmad Tavakoli, an economist and former labor minister, took 16.5percentt.
In September a preliminary count awarded Karzai almost 55percentt of the vote, thus indicating that he had won an outright victory over his closest challenger, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.
