Flags waved and mariachi music carried across the crowd as Claudia Sheinbaum stepped up to speak on Sunday night. “I want to thank millions of Mexican women and men who decided to vote for us on this historic day,” she told her supporters. By then the result was plain: Mexico had elected a woman as president for the first time, and by a landslide.
Preliminary figures from the National Electoral Institute put Sheinbaum at around 58-60 percent of the vote, with turnout estimated at 60 percent. Her closest rival, Xochitl Galvez, trailed by more than 30 percentage points. Jorge Alvarez Maynez, a centrist and the only man in the race, was some 50 points back. Galvez conceded, and Sheinbaum thanked her publicly.
Sheinbaum is 61, trained as a scientist and served as mayor of Mexico City. Her party is Morena, and her patron is the outgoing president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a fellow leftist who holds an approval rating above 60 percent but cannot seek a second term. He congratulated her “with all my affection and respect.” He also made a bold claim about the margin: “she is also the president with possibly the most votes obtained in the history of our country.”
The ruling party had a second reason to celebrate. Early results showed its candidate, Clara Brugada, winning the mayoralty of Mexico City, among the most important political jobs in the country.
A vote under threat
The day was not peaceful everywhere. Hours before the polls opened, a local candidate was murdered in a western state, authorities said. That made at least 25 other political hopefuls killed during the campaign season, according to official figures. In Puebla, two people died when unknown attackers hit polling stations to steal papers, a local government security source told AFP. In Chiapas, voting was suspended in two municipalities because of violence.
Thousands of troops had been sent out to protect voters. Many still turned up in force, with nearly 100 million people registered in a country of 129 million. Mexicans were also choosing members of Congress, several governors and a host of local officials, more than 20,000 positions in total.
What voters said
Women in the crowd spoke about what the win meant to them. Maria de los Angeles Gordillo, 37, a member of the Tojolabal Indigenous community, said she was moved to tears. “I’m here to celebrate this historic moment for our country and especially for women who carry these inequalities on their skin,” she said.
The setting gave those words weight. Around 10 women or girls are murdered in Mexico every day. Lol-Kin Castaneda, 48, waited late into the night to hear the winner. “Our society is violent, sexist, misogynistic, and Dr. Sheinbaum as president will really be able to help change not only the laws but society,” she said, and added that Mexico “can’t stand any more violence.”
Clemencia Hernandez, a 55-year-old cleaner in Mexico City, hoped for tangible change. “Many women are subjugated by their partners. They’re not allowed to leave home to work,” she said. Daniela Perez, 30, called a woman president “something historic,” though she did not see either leading candidate as “totally feminist.”
The inheritance
Sheinbaum has promised to keep Lopez Obrador’s “hugs not bullets” approach, which aims to tackle crime at its roots. Galvez had campaigned on the opposite line, declaring “hugs for criminals are over.” More than 450,000 people have been murdered since the government sent the army against drug trafficking in 2006, and tens of thousands have gone missing.
The next president must also deal with the United States, where cross-border drug smuggling and migration remain difficult issues. Sheinbaum, who served as head of government of Mexico City from 2018 to 2023, is also the first person of Jewish heritage to hold the presidency.
