Mexico elects its first female president

In a historic landslide victory, Claudia Sheinbaum has been elected the first female president of Mexico, as well as the first Jewish person to hold that position. Sheinbaum is a climate scientist and the former mayor of Mexico City.

Gracias, gracias, gracias; no les voy a fallar. Vamos a avanzar con el Segundo Piso de la Cuarta Transformación. pic.twitter.com/vwXlA7w54X

— Dra. Claudia Sheinbaum (@Claudiashein) June 3, 2024

According to the latest data, she received between 58 and 60 percent of the vote, the highest vote percentage in Mexico’s history.

“For the first time in 200 years of the republic, there will be a woman president and she will be transformative,” Sheinbaum wrote in a statement in Spanish on social media.

After the preliminary results, Sheinbaum assured supporters that her government would prioritize fiscal responsibility and maintain the central bank’s independence.

She promised to tackle security issues but provided few specifics. The election, marked by the murder of 38 candidates, was Mexico’s most violent and underscored deep-seated security challenges. Analysts note that organized crime has grown under Andrés Manuel Lòpez Obrador’s administration.

The violence continued on election day, with two fatalities at polling stations in Puebla. More than 185,000 people have died during Lòpez Obrador’s tenure, a record high, despite a slight decrease in the homicide rate.

In her victory speech, Sheinbaum thanked Lòpez Obrador as “a unique person who has transformed our country for the better.”