Claudia Sheinbaum, the acknowledged Mayor of Mexico City. - Mexico elects its first female president from a left-leaning party.
The left-wing candidate Claudia Sheinbaum is on track to become Mexico's first female president, according to official tallies. Sheinbaum, a former mayor of Mexico City, is the clear favorite with 58.3-60.7% of the votes, as announced by the country's electoral authority on Sunday evening. Her two rivals, Xochitl Gálvez and Jorge Álvarez, have already called her to congratulate her on her victory.
Incumbent left-populist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador also congratulated Sheinbaum: "I wish to extend my heartfelt congratulations and respect to Claudia Sheinbaum. She will be the first female president in the 200-year history of Mexico," he said in a video message. Sheinbaum is a close ally of López Obrador, who, due to the constitution, cannot run for re-election after completing his six-year term. They are both members of the Morena party.
Gálvez, the opposition candidate, came in second with 26.6-28.6% of the votes. Álvarez of the smaller center-left party Movimiento Ciudadano managed to secure between 9.9-10.8% of the votes. The electoral authority held back releasing the final results, leading to a confusing situation. Gálvez criticized this on the news platform X, calling them '"the liars as always" before the official data was announced. The coalition led by Morena also triumphed in the parliamentary and regional elections.
Sheinbaum is due to take office on October 1st. In Mexico, the head of state and government serves a six-year term, limited to one term.
Around 100 million eligible voters were urged to cast their ballot on Sunday for the presidential position, both chambers of Congress, and numerous regional and local posts. The day was the largest in Mexico's electoral history. Over 20,000 positions were up for grabs, including the governorships of eight of the 31 states and the capital district.
