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| Claudia Sheinbaum |
Mexico is poised to elect its first female president, with preliminary results showing Claudia Sheinbaum, the former mayor of Mexico City and a climate scientist, on track to win the country’s largest election in history.
Sheinbaum has secured between 58.3% and 60.7% of the vote, according to Quick Count, a statistical sample of ballots from polling stations conducted by the National Electoral Institute (INE).
Riding the wave of popularity of her longtime political ally, outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and their Morena party, the 61-year-old Sheinbaum has promised to govern all Mexicans “without distinction.”
“Even though many Mexicans do not fully agree with our project, we will have to walk in peace and harmony to continue building a fair and more prosperous Mexico,” she told supporters in a speech on Monday.
Sheinbaum also highlighted the historical significance of becoming Mexico's first female president. “I am also grateful because, for the first time in 200 years of the republic, I will become the first woman president of Mexico,” she said.
Sheinbaum is not only set to be Mexico’s first female president but also its first leader of Jewish heritage, though she rarely discusses her personal background and has governed as a secular leftist.
Trailing Sheinbaum is opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez, supported by a coalition of the National Action (PAN), Institutional Revolutionary (PRI), and Democratic Revolution (PRD) parties, with between 26.6% and 28.6% of the votes. Citizens’ Movement candidate Jorge Álvarez Máynez follows in third place, with between 9.9% and 10.8% of the votes.
According to the quick count results, voter turnout was between 58.9% and 61.7% of the nearly 100 million registered voters.
Outgoing President López Obrador congratulated Sheinbaum on her win. “With all my affection and respect, I congratulate Claudia Sheinbaum, who came out victorious with an ample margin. She will be the first [female] President of Mexico… but also the President, possibly, with the most votes obtained in all of the history of our country,” he said in a video posted on X.
Sheinbaum's projected win marks a significant moment for a country that is a global leader in gender equality in elected office, bolstered by a 2019 constitutional reform. Despite this, Mexico remains a dangerous place for women, with around 10 women murdered daily due to high femicide rates.
Sheinbaum served as Mexico City's mayor for five years before resigning last June to run for president. A co-author of a Nobel-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, she is married to Jesús María Tarriba Unger.
Seen as a continuation of López Obrador's policies, Sheinbaum has pledged to maintain social welfare programs that have increased Morena's popularity and benefited poorer Mexicans. These include a pension for all senior citizens, scholarships for over 12 million students, and free fertilizers for small farmers.
Violence in the country, with cartels extending their influence and numerous political candidates or applicants killed in the past year, was a major concern for voters. Despite a decline in the murder rate between 2019 and 2022, Mexico still experiences historically high levels of around 30,000 homicides annually.
Sheinbaum has been reserved about her security proposals but pointed to her record as Mexico City mayor, where she improved police working conditions and intelligence-gathering capabilities.
A major challenge will be addressing the culture of impunity in Mexico, where about 95% of crimes went unsolved in 2022, according to think tank Mexico Evalua.
Sunday's poll was the largest election in the country’s history, with more than 98 million registered voters and 1.4 million Mexicans eligible to vote abroad. Over 20,000 positions, including senators, mayors, and governors, are being contested by an estimated 70,000 candidates.
After final results are confirmed, the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Branch of the Federation (TEPJF) will analyze any potential challenges and validate the presidential election by September 6. If validated, Sheinbaum will take office on October 1 for a six-year term, lasting from 2024 to 2030.
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