The leftist candidate Claudia Sheinbaum was elected as the first female president of Mexico, according to three exit polls released the night of this Sunday, June 2.
According to the firm Enkoll, Sheinbaum, 61 years old and the ruling party’s candidate, obtained 57.8% of the votes against 29.1% for the center-right Xochitl Galvez and 11.4% for Jorge Álvarez Máynez (center).
(See: The cost of violence in Mexico rises to 19.8% of GDP).
Two other media polls Televisa and The financial They project Sheinbaum as the winner, without yet revealing percentages.
These studies were authorized by the National Electoral Institute (INE). The official projection will be more in a few hours, the organization announced.
Sheinbaum, a physicist and former mayor of Mexico City of Jewish origin, entered Sunday’s general elections with a 17-point advantage over Gálvez for govern the world’s 12th largest economy, with 129 million inhabitants, until 2030.
After the polls closed, Gálvez, a 61-year-old engineer and senator of indigenous roots, called on her followers to monitor the count.
“We are competing against authoritarianism and power and they are capable of anything“said the opponent to the press in a hotel in Mexico City.
(See: How China uses Mexico as a ‘back door’ to enter products into the US).
“I make a respectful and energetic call to President (Andrés Manuel) López Obrador to respect the vote“he added.
It’s a “historic day,” said Sheinbaum, who He leveraged his favoritism on the widespread popularity of López Obrador, his political godfather.
Claudia Sheinbaum
Bloomberg
Left preserves the capital
After casting his vote, Sheinbaum told journalists that he voted for the historical leader of the Mexican left Ifigenia Martínez for the presidency, in “tribute” to her struggle.
In Mexico, electoral cards include a blank box that allows voting for an unregistered candidate. “Long live democracy!“he exclaimed.
Gálvez voted after waiting in line for three hours, a constant in several sectors of the capital.
(See: OECD forecasts: will Colombia do better than its Latin peers in 2024?).
Exit polls also project leftist Clara Brugada as the winner to lead the mayor of Mexico City. bastion of the left for almost three decades.
Violence mourned these elections in which around thirty candidates were murdered, according to the NGO Data Cívica.
The most recent victim was a candidate for a local office in the state of Michoacán (west), shot dead hours before the polls opened, the regional prosecutor’s office reported.
Two people also died on Sunday during armed incidents linked to the theft of electoral material in the state of Puebla, according to a local government source.
Some 450,000 people were murdered in Mexico and tens of thousands have been missing since 2006, when the government added the military to the fight against the mafias.
Almost 100 million voters were called to vote in this single-round election. In Mexico there is no presidential re-election or mandatory voting.
(See: Tourism economy fell in Mexico in the last quarter of 2023).
With some 20,000 positions in dispute, they were the largest elections in the history of the country.
Elections in Mexico.
AFP
Sheinbaum’s followers believe that she will continue López Obrador’s programs, highlight her efficiency as mayor of Mexico City (2018-2023) and see her as an “inspiration” in this country with high rates of gender violence. where about 10 women are murdered daily, between femicides and intentional homicides, according to UN Women.
Reina Balbuena, a 50-year-old tamale seller, says she voted for Sheinbaum because her Morena party “has given a lot of support to older adults, to children.”
Balbuena raises her granddaughter and receives help for it. “A female president will support women more“, he says.
During his government, López Obrador distributed millions in direct aid to the elderly, young people and the disabled, which lifted 8.9 million people out of poverty. A third of the population still lives in that situation.
Supporters of Claudia Sheinbaum.
AFP
The expansion of organized crime “is the most intimidating problem” that Sheinbaum will have to face, he said Michael Shifter, researcher at the Inter-American Dialogue analysis center, based in Washington.
It will also have the challenge of maintaining social programs when the fiscal deficit rose to 5.9% and the average growth in the last six years was barely 0.8%.
Another challenge will be the relationship with the United States, destination of 80% of Mexican exports, especially if Donald Trump returns to power, Shifter warned.
Trump threatened mass deportations of migrants crossing the almost 3,200 km binational border. Besides, In 2026, the two countries and Canada must renegotiate their T-MEC trade agreement.
In these elections the left also seeks to expand the simple majority it has in Congress to approve controversial reforms, including one in the judicial field.
AFP
