Claudia Sheinbaum has decisively won the presidential elections to become Mexico’s first female president. She will assume the project of her mentor and outgoing President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, on whom’s popularity among the poor helped her coast to victory.
Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City had clinched the presidency with about 58.3% and 60.7% of the vote, according to a rapid sample count by Mexico’s electoral authority.
This vote percentage has been touted to be the highest vote percentage in Mexico’s democratic history.
Sheinbaum’s major opposition candidate, Xochitl Galvez had conceded defeat after preliminary results revealed her vote percentage to be between 26.6% and 28.6%.
Sheinbaum’s victory at the polls is a major one for Mexico, a country infamous for pushing for more traditional roles for its women as it is home to the world’s second biggest Roman Catholic population.
With this victory, Sheinbaum is the first woman to win a general election in the North American region.
The ballot on Sunday’s vote had been marred by the killing of two people at various polling stations in Puebla state.
The ruling MORENA party had been reported to have won the Mexico City mayorship race, one of the country’s most important posts.
The new president’s challenges will include spearheading tense negotiations with the United States regarding the significant flow of U.S.-bound migrants crossing Mexico and security cooperation over drug trafficking at a time when the U.S. fentanyl epidemic is soaring.
Additionally, Sheinbaum will be tasked with fixing electricity and water shortages in the country and enticing manufacturers to relocate as part of the near shoring trend, in which companies move supply chains closer to their main markets.
