Claudia Sheinbaum was elected on Sunday by an overwhelming majority as Mexico’s first female president, making history in a country plagued by rampant criminal and gender violence.
Crowds of flag-waving supporters sang and danced to mariachi music in Mexico City’s main square celebrating the victory of the ruling party candidate.
“I want to thank the millions of Mexican women and men who decided to vote for us on this historic day,” Sheinbaum said in a victory speech to the cheering crowd.
“I will not fail you,” promised the 61-year-old former mayor of Mexico City.
He thanked his main opposition rival, Xóchitl Gálvez, who admitted defeat.
Sheinbaum, a scientist by training, obtained between 58 and 60 percent of the votes, according to the official preliminary results of the National Electoral Institute.
That was more than 30 percentage points ahead of Gálvez, and about 50 percentage points ahead of the only candidate, centrist Jorge Álvarez Maynez.
Claudia Sheinbaum (pictured) was overwhelmingly elected as Mexico’s first female president on Sunday.
After casting her vote, Sheinbaum revealed that she had voted not for herself but for a 93-year-old leftist veteran, Ifigenia Martínez, in recognition of her fight.
Claudia Sheinbaum shows her ballot before voting at a polling station in San Andrés Totoltepec, in Mexico City.
Voters flocked to polling stations across the Latin American country, despite sporadic violence in areas terrorized by ultra-violent drug cartels.
Thousands of troops were deployed to protect voters, following a particularly bloody electoral process in which more than two dozen local political hopefuls were murdered.
Mexican women who went to the polls applauded the prospect of a woman breaking the highest political glass ceiling in a country where about 10 women or girls are murdered every day.
“A female president will be a transformation for this country and we hope she does more for women,” said Clemencia Hernández, a 55-year-old cleaner in Mexico City.
‘Many women are subjugated by their partners. “They are not allowed to leave the house to work,” she stated.
Sheinbaum, a scientist by training, received between 58 and 60 percent of the vote, according to preliminary official results.
Crowds of flag-waving supporters sang and danced to mariachi music in Mexico City’s main square celebrating the victory of the ruling party candidate.
Mexican presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum kisses her husband Jesús María Tarriba (pictured, right)
Voters flocked to polling stations across the Latin American country, despite sporadic violence in areas terrorized by ultra-violent drug cartels.
Daniela Pérez, 30, said that having a female president would be “something historic,” although neither of the two main candidates was, in her opinion, “totally feminist.”
‘We will have to see their positions to improve women’s rights, resolve the issue of femicides – which have gone crazy -, support women more,’ added the manager of the logistics company.
Almost 100 million people were registered to vote in the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world, where 129 million people live.
Sheinbaum owes much of his popularity to outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a fellow leftist and mentor who has an approval rating of more than 60 percent but can only serve one term.
López Obrador congratulated his ally with ‘all my love and respect’.
In addition to being the first woman to lead Mexico, ‘she is also the president with possibly the most votes obtained in the history of our country,’ she stated.
After casting her vote, Sheinbaum revealed that she had voted not for herself but for a 93-year-old leftist veteran, Ifigenia Martínez, in recognition of her fight.
In a nation where politics, crime and corruption are closely intertwined, drug cartels went to great lengths to ensure their preferred candidates won.
Sheinbaum has pledged to continue the outgoing president’s controversial “hugs, not bullets” strategy to attack crime at its roots.
Mexico’s presidential candidate for the Morena party, Claudia Sheinbaum, celebrates after the results of the general elections in Mexico City.
Hours before polls opened, a local candidate was killed in a violent western state, authorities said.
Hours before polls opened, a local candidate was killed in a violent western state, authorities said, joining at least 25 other political hopefuls killed this election season, according to official figures.
In the central Mexican state of Puebla, two people died after unknown assailants attacked polling stations to steal documents, a local government security source told AFP.
Voting was suspended in two municipalities in the southern state of Chiapas due to violence.
Sheinbaum has pledged to continue the outgoing president’s controversial “hugs, not bullets” strategy to attack crime at its roots.
Gálvez promised a tougher approach to cartel-related violence and declared that “no more hugging criminals.”
More than 450,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands have gone missing since the government deployed the army to fight drug trafficking in 2006.
The next president will also have to manage delicate relations with the neighboring United States, particularly the controversial issues of drug smuggling and cross-border migration.
In addition to electing a new president, Mexicans voted for members of Congress, several state governors, and countless local officials—a total of more than 20,000 positions.