Claudia Sheinbaum Gains 58.4% in Mexico's Presidential Election
09:48 03.06.2024 (Updated: 14:58 03.06.2024)
© AP Photo / Marco Ugarte
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MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) - Candidate from the ruling Morena party Claudia Sheinbaum is winning the country's presidential election, the data from the National Election Institute's (NEI) rapid vote counting system showed on Monday.
Sheinbaum got around 58.4% of the vote, with her rival from the opposition coalition Strength and Heart for Mexico Xochitl Galvez got 30.4%, NEI said after processing ballots from 7,500 precincts.
"We are fortunate to live in a stellar moment in the history of our country, as well as our Latin America and the world. Claudia Sheinbaum will be the first female president in our history and in the history of North America. The exit polls give us a big advantage over the priyan candidate [PRI and PAN parties] a very big difference, two to one," the movement's chairman Mario Delgado said, speaking at the party's electoral headquarters.
Sheinbaum has also already announced her victory and said that her competitors have already called her with congratulations.
"According to the preliminary results that were published by the National Electoral Institute, the lead in the race for the presidency of the republic exceeds 30%. [...] I want to thank the millions of Mexicans who decided to vote for us in these historic elections to continue the fourth transformation of the public life of our beautiful country," Sheinbaum said, speaking at the headquarters to reporters and supporters.
Incumbent Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador congratulated candidate from the ruling Morena party Claudia Sheinbaum on her victory in the presidential election.
"Today is a day of glory because the people of Mexico have freely and democratically decided that Claudia Sheinbaum will become the first female president in the 200 years of the independent life of our republic," the president wrote on X.
Honduran President Xiomara Castro has also extended her congratulations to Sheinbaum.
"As the first female president of Honduras, I extend my sincere congratulations to the first female President-Elect of Mexico, [Claudia Sheinbaum], for having achieved a resounding electoral victory hand in hand with the people of Mexico and our friend [Lopez Obrador]. We agreed over the phone to work together for the unity of Latin America and the Caribbean," Castro said on X.
Later in the day, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel welcomed Sheinbaum's "historic election."
"We wish her success in ruling the country as the first for a woman in this position. You can count on Cuba's willingness to continue strengthening the endearing brotherhood that unites our people," Diaz-Canel said on X.
Official election results will be announced after the vote count, which will last until June 5-8. The winner of the vote is determined in one round using a relative majority system, i.e., the candidate who receives more votes than the rest will become president. The inauguration of the president-elect will take place four months after the election day, on October 1, the day of the transfer of federal executive power.
Former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, an environmental and energy scientist, began her career in politics in the student movement of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and later in the Party of the Democratic Revolution, where she met current President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. During his time as mayor of Mexico City in 2000-2006, Sheinbaum led the environmental policy of the capital. In 2018-2023, she then headed the city's government.
Sheinbaum's policy, according to her own statements and observers' assessments, will continue Lopez Obrador's approach.
