Mexico Elects Claudia Sheinbaum as Its

Mexico City (AP) — Claudia Sheinbaum, the projected winner of Mexico's presidential race, will become the first female president in the country's 200-year history. Sheinbaum, the favored successor of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has pledged to continue on the path set by the populist leftist leader. However, her calm demeanor as a scientist marks a sharp contrast—and a break from Mexico's male-dominated political culture.

"I promise I won't let you down," Sheinbaum told supporters as she greeted them at the Zócalo, Mexico City's colonial-era main plaza.

The head of the National Electoral Institute stated that Sheinbaum received between 58.3% and 60.7% of the vote, while opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez garnered between 26.6% and 28.6%, and Jorge Álvarez Maynez received between 9.9% and 10.8%. Sheinbaum's Morena party was also projected to gain a majority in both houses of Congress.

The climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City said that her two competitors had called to acknowledge her victory. With approximately 50% of polling sites reporting in the official preliminary count, Sheinbaum led Gálvez by 28 points.

Claudia Sheinbaum, the presidential nominee of the governing MORENA party, responds to her supporters' cheers as she speaks following her election victory in Mexico City on June 3, 2024.

The fact that the two main candidates were women left no doubt that Mexico was making history on Sunday. "I didn't do this alone," Sheinbaum said shortly after her victory was confirmed. "We all made this happen, alongside those heroines who gave us our homeland, our mothers, our daughters, and our granddaughters."

Sheinbaum will also be the first person of Jewish background to lead the predominantly Catholic country. She will begin her six-year term on October 1. Mexico's constitution does not permit reelection.

The leftist has stated that, like her political mentor, she believes in a strong government role in addressing economic inequality and providing a robust social safety net. Despite Gálvez's spirited challenge, the 61-year-old Sheinbaum consistently led in the polls. This election marked the first time that Mexico's two main contenders were women.

"Of course, I congratulate Claudia Sheinbaum with all the respect she deserves for winning by a wide margin," López Obrador said shortly after election officials' announcement. the presidency with 53.2% of the vote in a three-way race where the National Action Party secured 22.3% and the Institutional Revolutionary Party got 16.5%.

Still, Sheinbaum is unlikely to enjoy the kind of unquestioned devotion that López Obrador did. At the Zócalo, her victory did not draw the enthusiastic, exuberant crowds that welcomed López Obrador's win in 2018. While attendees were enthusiastic, their numbers were comparatively smaller.

Sara Ríos, a 76-year-old retired literature professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, celebrated upon hearing that Gálvez had conceded."She is going to work to bring peace to the country and manage to move forward, but it will be a slow process."

Fernando Fernández, a 28-year-old chef, said he voted for Sheinbaum because of her ties to López Obrador, using the president's initials, AMLO. However, his highest hope is that Sheinbaum "can fix what AMLO couldn’t, such as gasoline prices, crime, and drug trafficking, which he failed to combat despite being in power."

Gálvez, the main opposition candidate, a tech entrepreneur, and former senator, had promised a more aggressive approach to organized crime. In her concession speech, she said, "I want to emphasize that my acknowledgment [of Sheinbaum’s victory] comes with a firm demand for solutions to the country’s serious problems and their consequences."

Mexico  First Female President

López Obrador claims that since taking office in December 2018, he has reduced historically high murder rates by 20%. However, this claim is largely based on a questionable study of statistics, with the actual human homicide rate appearing to have only fallen by about 4% over six years.

Julio García, an office worker in Mexico City, said he voted for the opposition due to crime. “I’ve been robbed at gunpoint twice. We need a change in direction, a change in leadership,” the 34-year-old said.

In San Andrés Totoltepec, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Mexico City, 34-year-old housewife Estefanía Navarrete said she planned to vote for Sheinbaum despite her doubts about López Obrador and his party. “Having a female president, as a Mexican woman, will be the same as when you say you are a woman, you are limited to certain jobs. No more.”

She said Sheinbaum’s mentor’s social programs were important, but her primary concern in this election was the reduction in cartel violence over recent years. About 100 million people registered to vote, and turnout was around 60%, similar to previous elections.

Voters were also electing governors in nine of the country's 32 states, candidates for both houses of Congress, thousands of mayoral positions, and other local posts in one of the country's largest elections, which was marked by violence. The elections were widely seen as a referendum on López Obrador, a populist who expanded social programs but largely failed to reduce cartel violence in Mexico. His Morena party currently holds 23 out of 32 governorships and a simple majority in both houses of Congress.

Sheinbaum has pledged to continue all of López Obrador’s policies, including a universal pension for the elderly and a program that pays youths to apprentice. As the upcoming rematch between U.S. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in November highlights deep divisions in America, Sunday’s election showed how sharply polarized Mexican public opinion is over the country’s direction, particularly regarding security strategy and economic growth.

Mexico First Female President

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