Claudia Sheinbaum Elected Mexico’s First Female President: Historic Victory Amidst Challenges

Claudia Sheinbaum wins the election and becomes the first female president in Mexican history, Biden congratulates her

Claudia Sheinbaum has made history by becoming the first female and Jewish president of Mexico, succeeding President López Obrador. Sheinbaum’s victory was not unexpected, as pre-election polls had shown leading female candidates. She has pledged to continue left-wing populist policies, focusing on economic inequality, renewable energy, and friendly relations with the United States.

However, she faces challenges in managing drug cartel violence and immigration issues. The election saw the largest voter turnout in Mexico’s history but was marred by violence, with several political candidates being killed. The upcoming election is seen as a referendum on López Obrador’s performance, with his party holding a majority in Congress amidst ongoing cartel violence in the country.

Key Concepts

• Claudia Sheinbaum makes history as the first female president of Mexico.
• She vows to continue left-wing populist policies.
• She expresses gratitude to supporters for her victory.
• She is the first Jewish president in a predominantly Catholic country.
• She emphasizes economic equality and renewable energy.
• She faces challenges in managing drug smuggling and immigration.
• The election had the largest voter turnout in Mexico’s history.
• Drug cartel violence continues to be a major issue in the country.
• Several political candidates were killed during the campaign.
• The election is seen as a referendum on President López Obrador’s performance.

Climate scientist and former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum has been elected president of Mexico, becoming the first female leader in the country’s 200-year history.

Sheinbaum is outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s favorite successor, and she has vowed to continue in the left-wing populist leader’s footsteps. Go down the direction. She said both of her opponents, Xóchitl Gálvez and Jorge Álvarez Máynez, had called her to concede defeat.

Sheenbaum greeted supporters in the Zocalo, Mexico City’s colonial main square, and said, “I promise I will not fail you.”

The National Election Institute said that after counting nearly half of the votes cast in Sunday’s poll, Sheinbaum won between 58.3% and 60.7% of the vote, Galvez between 26.6% and 28.8%, and Menez’s share between 9.9% and 10.8%.

Sheinbaum’s National Ennahda Party is also expected to maintain its majority in both houses of Congress.

Pre-election polls have shown that both leading candidates are women, so there is little doubt that Sunday’s election will make Mexican history.

“I didn’t do it on my own,” Sheinbaum said shortly after his victory was confirmed. “We all did it—the heroines who gave us our homes, our mothers, our daughters, and our granddaughters.”

Sheinbaum would also be the first Jewish president in Mexico, an overwhelmingly Catholic country. But her campaign says she is not religiously Jewish.

She will begin her six-year term on October 1. The Mexican constitution does not allow the president to be re-elected, so López Obrador’s term expired on September 30.

U.S. President Joe Biden issued a statement congratulating Sheinbaum. “I look forward to working closely with President-elect Sheinbaum in the spirit of cooperation and friendship that embodies the enduring bond between our two countries,” he said.

Sheinbaum has said she believes the government has a strong role to play in tackling economic inequality and providing a strong social safety net, following the advocacy of López Obrador, her political booster. similar.

“Of course, I congratulate with all my respect Claudia Sheinbaum, who ended up winning by a wide margin,” López Obrador said shortly after electoral authorities announced the results of the still-continuing vote count.”

If her lead holds, it will surpass López Obrador’s landslide victory in 2018. After two failed attempts, López Obrador and his National Renewal Movement party won 53.2% of the vote in 2018 in a three-way race, with the National Action Party taking 22.3% and the Institutional Revolutionary Party receiving 16.5% of the votes.

Sheinbaum vowed to build a just and more prosperous country that is fiscally responsible and free from corruption and impunity. She said the government should work for energy sovereignty and renewable energy.

Sheinbaum also said that Mexico will maintain friendly relations with the United States.

But she must manage the sometimes tense relationship between the United States and Mexico, particularly the thorny issues of cross-border drug smuggling and immigration.

The issue of migrants crossing into the United States from northern Mexico is a key issue for many American voters ahead of the November presidential election. The election will be between Democratic incumbent President Joe Biden and Republican former President Donald Trump.

López Obrador enjoys an almost unquestioning loyalty that Sheinbaum is unlikely to achieve.

In the Zocalo Plaza, Sheinbaum’s victory did draw the same jubilant crowds seen when López Obrador won in 2018. Her supporters are passionate but relatively small.

Voters on Sunday also elected governors in nine of Mexico’s 32 states, as well as members of both houses of Congress, thousands of mayors, and other local offices. This is the largest election in Mexico’s history. However, the campaign was tainted with violence.

The election is widely seen as a referendum on López Obrador. The populists expanded social programs but largely failed to reduce violence by Mexico’s drug cartels. The National Ennahda Party currently controls 23 of the country’s 32 governors and has a simple majority in both houses of Congress.

In a country where politics, crime, and corruption are inextricably linked, ultra-violent drug cartels will stop at nothing to ensure their preferred candidate wins.

Just hours before polling stations opened on Sunday, a regional candidate was murdered in a violent western state, joining at least 25 other political candidates killed during the campaign, according to official figures.

Galvez told reporters as he went to vote that the victims “are not here today, which is very sad.”

Galvez campaigned on a pledge to get tougher on violence linked to drug cartels. She declared that “the days of hugging criminals are gone.”

Since the government deployed the army to crack down on drug trafficking in 2006, more than 450,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands have disappeared.