Claudia Scheinbaum was elected Mexico’s next president on Sunday, becoming the first woman to hold the highest office in the country’s 200-year democratic history. She defeated Xochitl Gálvez with more than 58% of the vote, marking the first time in Mexican history that two presidential candidates were women.
Sheinbaum is the successor to Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has been president since 2018 and is a member of the left-wing Morena party.
Scheinbaum’s selection is significant because Mexico’s governments have traditionally been male-dominated and because she will be the first Jew to lead the predominantly Roman Catholic country. Her six-year term begins on Oct. 1.
“For the first time in 200 years of the Republic, I will be the first woman president of Mexico,” Sheinbaum said Sunday, “and as I have said on other occasions, I did not come here alone. We all came here, with the heroines who gave us our country, our ancestors, our mothers, our daughters, our granddaughters.”
⏪ What is Claudia Scheinbaum’s background?
Sheinbaum, 61, is a Nobel Prize-winning climate scientist who earned a doctorate in energy engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
In 2000, Sheinbaum served a six-year term as environment secretary during Lopez Obrador’s term as Mexico City’s prime minister, a role equivalent to a mayor in the U.S. Sheinbaum also served as Mexico City’s prime minister from 2018 to 2023, when he stepped down to run for the Morena party’s presidential nomination.
🇲🇽 What policies will Scheinbaum continue from the previous president?
President Lopez Obrador, also known as AMLO, has doubled the minimum wage, invested in college scholarships and programs to steer young people away from drug cartels, disbanded the federal police and pushed for construction projects to bolster infrastructure across the country.
Read more about Lopez Obrador’s legacy from AFP.
In his victory speech, Sheinbaum said he would continue to implement policies enacted by Lopez Obrador, such as social welfare programs, to reduce economic inequality.
“I am committed to upholding Lopez Obrador’s legacy,” Sheinbaum concluded.
Lopez Obrador remains highly popular in Mexico, but despite their mentor-student relationship, Sheinbaum has walked a tightrope in recent years between backing the outgoing president and distinguishing himself as a separate candidate.
👮 Scheinbaum’s biggest challenge
Mexico’s high violent crime rate will be Sheinbaum’s biggest and most pressing challenge if he takes office, and during the campaign he told supporters he would focus on “developing strategies to address the causes and continue to move toward zero impunity.”
A report by Vision of Humanity, a research firm that specializes in analysing data on peacebuilding efforts around the world, said organized criminal activity is a “major driver” of homicides and gun violence in the country, which has been on the rise in recent years.
As Mexico City’s chief executive, Scheinbaum cut the murder rate in half.
🇺🇸 How did the US react to Scheinbaum’s election?
Relations between Mexico and the United States came up frequently during the election as the number of migrants crossing the border from Mexico to the United States reached an all-time high.
But Scheinbaum has made clear he is pro-immigration and stressed that he will not allow the United States to dictate to the Mexican government how it should handle the immigration issue.
Relations between the United States and Mexico over US-bound migrants have been complicated by the likely reelection of former President Donald Trump, who has vowed to launch the biggest deportation campaign in history to remove illegal immigrants if he returns to the White House.
In a statement, President Biden congratulated Sheinbaum on his “historic” election victory.
“I look forward to working closely with President-elect Scheinbaum in a spirit of partnership and friendship that reflects the enduring bonds between our two nations,” Biden wrote. “I have expressed our commitment to advancing the values and interests of both our countries for the benefit of our peoples.”
Read this BBC article on why Mexico’s elections matter to the US.
