Claudia Sheinbaum has won a landslide victory to become Mexico's first female president, according to a rapid sample count by Mexico's electoral authority. The former Mexico City mayor and leftwing climate scientist secured between 58.3% and 60.7% of the vote, surpassing the 54.71% achieved by her mentor, outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in 2018.
Sheinbaum's ruling coalition, led by the Morena party, is also on track for a possible two-thirds supermajority in both houses of Congress, which would allow constitutional reforms without opposition support. The opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez conceded defeat after taking between 26.6% and 28.6% of the vote, while centrist candidate Jorge Álvarez Máynez came third with at least 9.9%.
“For the first time in the 200 years of the republic I will become the first woman president of Mexico,” Sheinbaum told supporters, who cheered “presidenta, presidenta”. She added: “We imagine a plural, diverse and democratic Mexico. Our duty is and will always be to look after each and every Mexican, without distinction.”
Sheinbaum's victory is a major step for Mexico, a country known for its macho culture and home to the world's second largest Roman Catholic population. She will also be the first person from a Jewish background to lead the country, and the first woman to win a general election in the US, Mexico or Canada.
Sheinbaum has vowed to continue López Obrador's policies, including cash transfers to elderly people and single mothers, and flagship infrastructure projects in historically poor regions, as well as an expanded role for the military in domestic security. The election was also the most violent in modern history, with more than 30 candidates killed and hundreds more dropping out.
