In 3rd bid to lead Mexico, fiery leftist puts oil reform in crosshairs

A demonstrator casts his shadow on a fence with a graffiti of leftist leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador during a protest against an energy reform bill outside the Senate building in Mexico City December 5, 2013. REUTERS/Tomas Bravo

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A firebrand leftist who twice narrowly missed becoming Mexico's president is riding high with a fresh bid for election in 2018, vowing to upend a landmark energy sector opening championed by President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Pledging to root out graft and undo several other Pena Nieto policies, populist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, known by the moniker AMLO, leads most opinion polls for the presidential race.