Claudia Sheinbaum has made history by winning a landslide victory to become Mexico’s first female president. She inherits the political project of her mentor and outgoing leader, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, whose popularity among the poor significantly contributed to her triumph.
Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, secured the presidency with 58.3% to 60.7% of the vote, according to a rapid sample count by Mexico’s electoral authority. This marks the highest vote percentage in Mexico’s democratic history. The ruling coalition is also on track for a possible two-thirds supermajority in both houses of Congress, potentially allowing for constitutional reforms without opposition support.
Opposition candidate Xochitl Galvez conceded defeat after preliminary results showed her garnering between 26.6% and 28.6% of the vote. “For the first time in the 200 years of the republic, I will become the first woman president of Mexico,” Sheinbaum told her supporters, who responded with loud cheers of “president, president.”
Sheinbaum’s victory represents a significant milestone for Mexico, a country known for its macho culture and traditional values, heavily influenced by its large Roman Catholic population. Sheinbaum is the first woman to win a general election in the United States, Mexico, or Canada.
“I never imagined that one day I would vote for a woman,” said 87-year-old Edelmira Montiel, a Sheinbaum supporter in Mexico’s smallest state, Tlaxcala. “Before, we couldn’t even vote, and when you could, it was to vote for the person your husband told you to vote for. Thank God that has changed, and I get to live it.”
Sheinbaum faces a challenging path ahead. She must balance promises to increase welfare policies with managing a hefty budget deficit and low economic growth. In her victory speech, she assured supporters that her government would be fiscally responsible and respect the autonomy of the central bank. She also vowed to improve security, despite the election being the most violent in Mexico’s modern history, with 38 candidates murdered.
Sunday’s vote was marred by the killing of two people at polling stations in Puebla state. Under Lopez Obrador’s administration, more than 185,000 people have been killed, although the homicide rate has been inching down. Analysts suggest that Sheinbaum will need to make significant investments in policing and reducing impunity to achieve a noticeable improvement in security.
The ruling MORENA party also won the Mexico City mayorship race, one of the country’s most important posts, according to preliminary results.
U.S. Relations
Among Sheinbaum’s challenges will be negotiating with the United States over the flow of U.S.-bound migrants and security cooperation on drug trafficking, especially amidst the U.S. fentanyl epidemic. Mexican officials anticipate tougher negotiations if Donald Trump wins the U.S. presidency in November.
Domestically, Sheinbaum will need to address electricity and water shortages and attract manufacturers to relocate as part of the nearshoring trend. She will also have to tackle the issues facing Pemex, the state oil giant struggling with declining production and heavy debt.
Lopez Obrador’s tenure saw successes such as doubling the minimum wage, reducing poverty, and maintaining a strong peso and low unemployment, which bolstered his popularity. Sheinbaum has pledged to continue many of his policies, especially those aiding Mexico’s poorest, while rejecting claims that she would be a “puppet” of the outgoing leader.
In her victory speech, Sheinbaum thanked Lopez Obrador, calling him “a unique person who has transformed our country for the better.” Political analyst Viri Rios suggested that accusations of Sheinbaum being a puppet were rooted in sexism, doubting people’s belief in her independent decision-making due to her being a woman.