[5] In addition to his electoral posts, he was president of the PRI's state committee in Sonora (Presidente del Comité Directivo Estatal del PRI); Secretary of Government (Secretario de Gobierno); undersecretary of the federal Interior Ministry (Subsecretario de Gobernación) and Secretary General of the PRI's most influential membership branch, Confederación Nacional de Organizaciones Populares, or CNOP.

The two have one daughter, Sylvana Beltrones Sánchez [es], a proportional representation federal deputy for the PRI.

[6][7] However, on November 20, 2011, he announced that he was not doing so and this paved way for his fellow Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)'s president-elected Enrique Peña Nieto.

Beltrones was widely expected to become the leader of PRI after its former president controversially stepped down in early December 2011.

[11] The United States indicated that Beltrones was suspected of using his power as governor of Sonora to protect drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes.

In 2015 Andorran judge Canòlich Mingorance secretly investigated the senator, her mother, and her father for alleged money laundering.