Mario López Valdez (born January 18, 1957), popularly known as Malova, is a Mexican businessman and politician, and a member of the National Action Party.

Mario López Valdez, a native of Cubiri de la Loma, Sinaloa, is an accounting graduate of the Technological Institute of Los Mochis (ITLM).

In 2005 Governor Jesús Aguilar Padilla appointed him secretary of Planning and Development in the state government.

He was elected July 4, 2010, defeating PRI candidate Jesús Vizcarra Calderón, a wealthy businessman and Culiacán municipal president who had been linked to local drug traffickers, including Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada.

However, López Valdez pledged to repeal the law just a few days after its unanimous passage in the state legislature, following a national outcry.