Claudia Sheinbaum has made history as the first woman elected president of Mexico, according to projections from the nation’s official quick count. Sheinbaum received between 58.3% and 60.7% of the vote, as per a statistical sample used for the quick count, announced early Monday by Guadalupe Taddei Zavala of Mexico’s National Electoral Institute. Taddei Zavala noted the tally is 95% reliable.
In her victory speech, Sheinbaum said, “For the first time in 200 years of our republic, I will become the first woman president … but as I’ve said on other occasions, I don’t do it alone. We’ve all made it, with our heroines who gave us our homeland, with our mothers, our daughters, and our granddaughters.” She emphasized her commitment to freedom of expression and protest and to building a “diverse and democratic” Mexico, while respecting industries, the free market, the environment, and national self-determination.
Outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador congratulated Sheinbaum in a video released early Monday, highlighting her wide margin of victory and noting, “She will be the first female president of Mexico in 200 years.” He added, “She possibly received the most votes in our country’s history.”
Sheinbaum, a former mayor of Mexico City, will begin her six-year term on October 1. At 61, she is a physicist and climate scientist, and Mexico’s first president of Jewish heritage. As a member of the governing Morena party, she will play a crucial role in addressing issues important to the United States, such as immigration and foreign affairs, and shaping the future of the trade deal that makes Mexico the U.S.’ largest trade partner.
The National Electoral Institute projected a voter turnout of about 60%. However, the election was marred by reports of violence at polling stations. Querétaro State Police reported 19 arrests for damaging ballot boxes and offering handouts, with one weapon seized at the scene. Verified social media videos showed the aftermath of an attack at a polling station in San Juan del Rio, Querétaro.
Sheinbaum is expected to follow in the footsteps of her mentor, López Obrador. The Morena party, which López Obrador founded, has dominated Mexican politics since his 2018 landslide victory. Sheinbaum has pledged to maintain welfare policies and social programs that have sustained Morena’s approval ratings.
Regarding Mexico’s high levels of violence, Sheinbaum plans to continue her predecessor’s “hugs, not bullets” policy, avoiding direct confrontation with criminal organizations. This approach has not significantly reduced killings over the past six years, with at least 102,400 homicides reported. However, previous strategies of aggressive pursuit of drug lords also failed to improve safety. Unlike López Obrador, Sheinbaum has advocated for greater use of renewable energy.
Sheinbaum’s victory is particularly significant in a country with high levels of violence against women. Her political career began in 2000 as Mexico City’s environment chief under then-Mayor López Obrador. She later served as his chief spokesperson during his 2006 presidential bid. Elected to run Mexico City’s largest borough, Tlalpan, in 2015, Sheinbaum became Mexico City’s first female mayor in 2018.
Daughter of a chemical engineer father and a cell biologist mother, Sheinbaum credits them with inspiring her love of science and politics. She studied physics and holds a doctorate in environmental engineering. As a member of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Sheinbaum shared a 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for their report. Growing up in Mexico City, she took ballet and guitar lessons and at 15, volunteered to help mothers searching for missing children. In the 1980s, she became active in student movements and protests against state intervention in education policies, earning her doctorate in energy engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1995 before pursuing an academic career.
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