Mexico's ruling party presidential hopeful holds 16-point lead - poll

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The presidential candidate from Mexico's ruling leftist party has the support of 48% of voters, a 16-point lead compared to the main opposition coalition hopeful, about four months ahead of the election, according to a new poll released on Monday.

Still, support for Claudia Sheinbaum, the candidate for the MORENA party of outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, dipped 6 points compared to the previous survey published by newspaper El Financiero.

Her main opponent Xochitl Galvez, the candidate representing a three-party coalition of ideological diverse parties, has 32% support in the poll, up 2 points since the previous survey in December.

A third candidate from a smaller opposition party, Jorge Alvarez, had 10% support, up from 7% last month, while another 10% were undecided.

Mexican voters will head to the polls on June 2 to pick a successor to the popular Lopez Obrador, who by law is limited to one six-year term, as well as scores of other elected positions across the country.

Mexico would see its first woman president if Sheinbaum, the former mayor of the capital, or Galvez, a senator who has stepped down to run, were to win.

The poll also showed that MORENA is favored by 40% of voter intentions for the lower chamber of Congress which will also be up for grabs, down 5 points from December, while the three main opposition parties - the conservative PAN, centrist PRI and leftist PRD - would win an accumulated 31%.

Polls in Mexico have a checkered record of predicting election results, and have diverged significantly from final results in some past elections.

The El Financiero survey polled 1,000 adults via phone calls, both landlines and mobile numbers, on Jan. 12-13 and Jan 26-27, with a margin of error of 3.1%.

(Reporting by Raul Cortes Fernandez; Writing by David Alire; Editing by Steven Grattan and Bernadette Baum)