Claudia Sheinbaum becomes the First Female to be Elected as President of Mexico.
Mexico’s official electoral authority said preliminary results showed the former mayor of Mexico City winning between 58% and 60% of the vote in Sunday’s election. That gives her a lead of about 30 percentage points over her main rival, businesswoman Xóchitl Gálvez.
She said “For the first time in the 200 years of the [Mexican] Republic, I will become the first woman president of Mexico.”
Before running for president, she was mayor of Mexico City, one of the country’s most influential political positions and one seen as paving the way for the presidency.
Ms Sheinbaum, whose Jewish maternal grandparents immigrated to Mexico from Bulgaria fleeing the Nazis, had an illustrious career as a scientist before delving into politics. Her paternal grandparents hailed from Lithuania. In 2018 she became the first female mayor of Mexico City, a post she held until 2023, when she stepped down to run for president.
The election, which pitted Ms Sheinbaum against Ms Gálvez, has been described as a sea change for women in Mexico.
Edelmira Montiel said that she was grateful to be alive to see a woman elected to the top office.
“Before, we couldn’t even vote, and when you could, it was to vote for the person your husband told you to vote for. Thank God that has changed and I get to live it,”
