Mexico has elected its country’s first-ever woman president. Claudia Sheinbaum from the leftist Morena party was voted into office in a landslide over Xochitl Gálvez from the opposition coalition.
According to official projections Monday morning (June 3), Sheinbaum, the former mayor of Mexico City, took 60 percent of the vote, while Gálvez took 28 percent. Jorge Álvarez Máynez came in third with 10 percent.
“I will become the first woman president of Mexico,” Sheinbaum said in her victory speech. “We have demonstrated that Mexico is a democratic country with peaceful elections. I want to thank millions of Mexican men and women who decided to vote for us in this historic journey.”
Last summer, Sheinbaum stepped down from her role as the mayor of Mexico City to begin her campaign for Mexico’s President. When she made the announcement, she added that she would continue then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s “transformation” of Mexico with her “own stamp.”
“Today is a day of glory because the people of Mexico freely and democratically decided that Claudia Sheinbaum becomes the first female president in 200 years of independent life of our Republic,” Obrador posted on social media. “Congratulations to all of us who have the joy of living in these stellar times of pride and transformation.”
Since Sheinbaum entered the race, some of the issues that have been at the forefront of the election include the economy and putting an end to the record levels of cartel violence that have continued to plague Mexico.
There were more than 20,000 public offices across the country up for election, which was considered the largest in the country’s history. It was also Mexico’s deadliest election year in modern history.
Since last summer, 38 candidates running for offices across Mexico, including mayors, deputies and commissioners, have been assassinated. The most recent victim was Israel Delgado Vega of the Morena party, who was running for town council in Cuitzeo, Michoacán. Vega was killed in a drive-by shooting at his home on Sunday (June 2).
Claudia Sheinbaum will take office on Inauguration Day, October 1, 2024.