MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Mexican governor who won a special election after the rival he initially lost to died in a helicopter crash is apparently suggesting she stole the vote and was "punished" by God.

Miguel Barbosa Huerta of the national governing Morena party lost the 2018 governor's election in Puebla state to Martha Érika Alonso of the conservative National Action Party. Ten days after taking office, Alonso died in the crash along with her husband and three others.

Barbosa won a special election last June to fill the post.

In public comments Wednesday, he claimed he was the true winner in 2018 and was cheated. Without explicitly naming Alonso, he said there was divine justice for the cheaters.

In his words: "I won. They stole it from me. But God punished them."