left-wing candidate Claudia Sheinbaum declared winner of the presidential election

This 61-year-old scientist won by a wide margin, according to three surveys released after the closing of all polling stations.

She will become the first female president in the history of Mexico. The candidate of the left in power, Claudia Sheinbaum, is leading the Mexican presidential election, according to three polls released after the closing of all polling stations on the evening of Sunday June 2. These surveys were authorized by the National Electoral Institute (INE), which will give its official projection between 10 and 11 p.m. Mexico time (between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. Paris time Monday).

Claudia Sheinbaum, 61, won by a wide margin with 57.8% of the vote against 29.1% for former center-right senator Xochitl Galvez, according to the Enkoll Institute survey. The centrist candidate Jorge Alvarez Maynez comes far behind (11.4%) in this one-round election. Other polls from Televisa and El Financiero also announce the victory of the candidate of the Movement for National Regeneration (Morena), but without giving a percentage.

If trends continue, Claudia Sheinbaum will speak and celebrate her victory in the evening on the large central square of the Zocalo, under the windows of the national palace, seat of the presidency. A 61-year-old scientist, the former mayor of Mexico City would take over on October 1 from her political mentor, outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, for a six-year term until 2030. She would become the first female president, in the history of a country which recorded, in 2023, an average of ten assassinations of women per day, according to UN figures.

By voting in Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum welcomed a “historic day”. She confided that she had not voted for herself in the presidential election, but for a pioneer of the Mexican left, Ifigenia Martinez, 93, in tribute to her struggle. “Long live democracy !”, concluded Claudia Sheinbaum. Granddaughter of Jews who fled Nazism and poverty in Lithuania and Bulgaria, Claudia Sheinbaum is buoyed by the popularity of the outgoing president, who ends his mandate with 66% favorable opinions. Voters were also called upon to renew Congress and the Senate, to choose governors in nine of the 32 states and to appoint local deputies and mayors.