Outgoing Mexican president congratulates Sheinbaum
From CNN's Mia Alberti
Mexico's President Andres Manuel López Obrador has congratulated Claudia Sheinbaum on her expected win in Sunday's presidential election.
"With all my affection and respect I congratulate Claudia Sheinbaum who came out victorious with an ample margin. She will be the first (female) President of Mexico... but also the President, possibly, with most votes obtained in all of the history of our country," he said in a video posted on X.
López Obrador also congratulated the other presidential candidates and the Mexican people, saying he was proud of the large turnout.
Mexico's expected president Sheinbaum pledges to govern all Mexicans "without distinction"
From CNN's Michael Rios
Claudia Sheinbaum has responded to the announcement of her projected victory in Mexico's presidential election early Monday morning, saying her administration would govern all Mexicans “without distinction,” even though not everyone supports her policies.
“Our duty is and will always be to look after every single Mexican without distinction. So even though many Mexicans do not fully agree with our project, we will have to walk in peace and harmony to continue building a fair and more prosperous Mexico,” she told supporters in a speech.
She also spoke about the historical significance of becoming the first female president of the country.
“I am also grateful because, for the first time in 200 years of the republic, I will become the first woman president of Mexico.”
Sheinbaum said her two rivals in the race, Xóchitl Gálvez and Jorge Álvarez Máynez, had called to congratulate her on her projected victory.
Sheinbaum, the candidate from the ruling party, received the most votes in Sunday's elections, according to preliminary results from the National Electoral Institute.
The Electoral Court must validate the presidential election, and if confirmed, Sheinbaum will start her presidency on October 1.
Sheinbaum's large margin shows power of Mexico's ruling party, CNN journalist says
From CNN's Kathleen Magramo
Even though Claudia Sheinbaum was expected to win during campaign polls, her large margin in the votes came as a shock, CNN’s Gustavo Valdes reports from Mexico City.
Sheinbaum might get up to 60% of the vote, which is even higher than outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador when he was elected six years ago, Valdes said.
Sheinbaum is the candidate for the ruling Morena party.
"That gives you an idea of thepolitical power that López Obrador has amassed over thepast six years," Valdes told CNN's Rosemary Church.
Valdes said voters told CNN that a woman president would help change Mexico's image of being a "macho" country, where patriarchal culture impedes women's advancements.
"Mexico has actuallychanged its laws toencourage and actually forcethe parties to have more femalecandidates. So so there's avery equal division of powerbetween many woman in congressand the governorships," Valdes said.
Sheinbaumprojected to winMexico's presidential election, official preliminary results show
From CNN en Español
Claudia Sheinbaumis projected to winMexico's presidential election and become the first woman to lead the country's government, according to preliminary results reported by the National Electoral Institute (INE).
Sheinbaum, the candidate of Mexico's ruling party Morena, wonbetween58.3% and 60.7%of the vote, according to INE's quick count, a statistical method that predicts the trend in voting from a random sample of polling stations.
Opposition coalition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez trailed Sheinbaum withbetween 26.6% and 28.6% of the vote.
The Citizen Movement candidate Jorge Álvarez Máynez came in third place withbetween 9.9% and 10.8%of the vote.
The Electoral Court must validate the presidential election. If it does, Sheinbaum will start her presidency on October 1.
Key things to know about Claudia Sheinbaum, who is projected to be Mexico's first female president
From CNN Español
Claudia Sheinbaum, the former head of the government of Mexico City and candidate for the ruling Morena party, is projected to be the country's first female president.
Sheinbaum, a former climate scientist, entered the campaign as the favorite, according to February and March polls by Mitofsky, Parametría, and De las Heras Demotecnia, which placed her support between 49% and 67% compared to her political rivals.
Sheinbaum holds a degree in physics and a master's and doctorate in energy engineering. She has received several accolades for her academic career.
Born in Mexico City in 1962, she has two children and one grandchild. Her partner, Jesús María Tarriba, whom she met at university while both were studying physics, is currently a financial risk specialist at the Bank of Mexico.
In 2018, she became the head of government of Mexico City, the first woman elected to this position. Her desire to be part of Mexican politics began in 2000 when she was appointed Secretary of the Environment for the Federal District under Andrés López Obrador's administration until 2006.
In 2015, she became the first woman elected as the head of the Tlalpan borough, serving until 2017. In early 2018, she joined the government of Mexico City as head until June 2023, when she stepped down to run for the presidency with the Morena party, of which she is a founder, aiming to succeed her party colleague, López Obrador.
As part of her campaign within Morena, Sheinbaum is designated the coordinator for the Defense of the Transformation, whose mission, as stated on her LinkedIn profile, is to defend and promote the values of the Fourth Transformation of Public Life in Mexico, the central axis of López Obrador's policy.
Much of her life has been dedicated to university teaching, focusing on renewable energy and climate change. In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to which Sheinbaum contributed, received the Nobel Peace Prize.
Sheinbaum is not only the first female president in Mexico, but the first president with Jewish heritage, although she rarely speaks publicly about her personal background and has governed as a secular leftist.
Translated by Karol Suarez. CNN’s Rey Rodríguez, Laura Paddison, Jack Guy, Fidel Gutiérrez, Krupskaia Alís, Aditi Sangal, Karen Esquivel and Carmen Sánchez contributed reporting to this post.
Elected president will have to act quickly on crime and security issues, analyst says
From CNN's Kathleen Magramo
Frontrunner Claudia Sheinbaum will have to act quickly on Mexico's organized crime and security issues if she wins the presidency, said Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
"The biggestchallenge facing the countrydoes come from organized crime,the expanding territorialcontrol of cartels and gangs, that will be something Sheinbaum will need to make progress on early," Freeman told CNN's Michael Holmes.
Freeman also said Sheinbaum would inherit a rising fiscal deficit, stemming from President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's big spending campaign, as well as long term issues such as migration and climate change.
Sheinbaum is the candidate for the ruling Morena party under López Obrador, and Sunday's election is seen by some as a referendumon the policies of the outgoing president.
López Obrador's popular social welfare has helped poorer Mexicans but his "hugs, not bullets” policy of not confronting cartels has not stopped criminal violence. Mexico’shomicide rateis among the highest in the world, andmore than 100,000 people remain missing in the country.
"It's stunning that the governing party could win re-election by a landslide as it seems... given the sweeping violence, the thing is the opposition didn't seem to puttogether a much more credibleset of proposals about whatthey would do," Freeman said.
"What scares methe most is that it could bethat no political figure inMexico go has a viable plan toreclaim security, to rebuild thestate's control over all ofits national territory."
Sheinbaum comes with a team from her time as Mexico City mayor that has a proven record on improving security but it remains to be seen if she can replicate that on a national scale, Freeman said.
Election officials postpone press conference on preliminary results
From CNN's Kathleen Magramo
Mexico’s election officials postponed a press conference in which initial preliminary results based on a small percentage of the votes were expected to be announced, CNN’s Gustavo Valdes in Mexico City reports.
Claudia Sheinbaum has emerged as the frontrunner of the presidential vote, and reporters at her campaign headquarters say her team is gearing up for a celebration, Valdes said.
"Thousands of them are already in Zócalo, which is the main square in Mexico City, but there's nothing official," he said.
Mexico awaits confirmation of its first female president. Here's what has happened so far
From CNN staff
Mexico is awaiting for results confirming the win of its first female president, which would mark a remarkable achievement in a country known for its patriarchal culture.
The two leading presidential candidates are women: Claudia Sheinbaum from the leftist Morena party and Xochitl Gálvez, from the conservative PAN party, who is representing a coalition of opposition parties. The third candidate is Jorge Álvarez Máynez, who is representing the center-left Citizens’ Movement.
Their respective parties have made early claims of victory, even though official results have not yet been announced by the National Electoral Institute (INE).
Sunday’s election was the largest in the country’s history. Over 98 million voters were registered to cast a ballot in Mexico and more than 20,000 positions are set to be filled.
- Vote counting: Polls began to close at 6 p.m. local time (8 p.m. ET) and Mexico's National Electoral Institute (INE) opened its preliminary electoral results program (known as PREP) on Sunday night, which is expected to be open for 24 hours. Official results have not yet been announced, though Sheinbaum emerges with an early lead. You can track the latest results here.
- Security on the ballot: Violence has loomed large in this election, the bloodiest in Mexico’s history. Dozens of political candidates and applicants have been killed by criminal organizationstrying to influencethose coming into power.
- Immigration concerns: Immigration is also another top concern for voters amid Mexico’s broader security crisis. Mexico is grappling with a surge of migrants and asylum seekers entering and crossing its own territory, while it contends with external policies on migration.
- US watches closely: Mexico is a key US allyon a range of issues, from trade to cracking down on drug trafficking to managing migration. US officials are closely monitoring Mexico's election results, as they prepare a border executive action that could be announcedas early as Tuesday.
- Why Mexico matters: The US and Mexico are both heading to the polls this year, something that happens only once every 12 years – and comes at a time of transition in the relationship between the two countries.The neighboring countries have to cooperate and address issues spanning migration, the fentanyl and drug trade, and their tightening economic relationship.
Readmore about today's historic election here.
