MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Sheinbaum poised to become Mexico's first woman president

Sheinbaum is to succeed her MoReNa comrade AMLO on Oct. 1 for a 6-year term

According to preliminary projections announced by Mexico's National Electoral Institute (INE) at around midnight Sunday local time, Claudia Sheinbaum of the ruling National Regeneration Movement (MoReNa) Party was poised to become the first woman president of the traditionally macho Latino country. The INE's calculations showed Sheinbaum would be garnering between 58.3% and 60.7% of the vote. Turnout was between 60% and 61.5%, it was also reported. Over 99.5 million Mexicans were registered to vote.

Sheinbaum, who ran on behalf of the Labor and Green Ecologist parties in addition to Morena, comfortably led the opposition's Xóchitl Gálvez from the National Action, Institutional Revolutionary, and Democratic Revolution parties, who would be amassing between 26.6% and 28.6% of the vote. Either way, Mexico's next president was going to be a woman. Sheinbaum and Gálvez were way ahead of Movimiento Ciudadano's Jorge Álvarez Máynez, who got between 9.9% and 10.8% of the vote.

If these results are validated, on Oct. 1 Sheinbaum will succeed Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) for the 2024-2030 term. INE Chairwoman Guadalupe Taddei urged the population to remain calm until the final official results were published. “I call on all political actors, candidates, and their teams to maintain serenity and respect for the established procedures,” she said. The first exit polls showed Sheinabum's Sigamos Haciendo Historia coalition surging ahead of Gálvez's Fuerza y Corazón por México alliance. However, MoReNa Chairman Mario Delgado quickly announced Sheinbaum's win “by 2 to 1” long before any official data went public. In addition to the presidency, 500 Lower House and 128 Senate seats, and 9 State gubernatorial offices were at stake.

Earlier Sunday, Gálvez claimed she had won the elections but would rather wait for the official results. “By the results of many mayoral and Legislative Branch elections, by those results, it is clear that we already won. I had been telling them for months that we were going to win, despite all the cheating, all the lies, despite all the abuse of power,” she said while urging AMLO to honor the outcome of Sunday's polls.

“We are not going to leave, we are going to defend this victory. Thank you for your vote, for your trust, for accompanying me on this long road from Tepatepec to the National Palace. Life, truth, and freedom have won. Let us have faith in God and trust in democracy,” she added, eventually in vain.

Voting weekend was no exception to Mexico's daily share of violence: Two people were shot dead in separate attacks at polling stations in the State of Puebla, one in the municipality of Tlapanalá and the other in the town of Coyomeapan. The 35-year-old Israel Delgado, a candidate for comptroller in the town of Cuitzeo, was gunned down late Saturday near his home, the Michoacán prosecutor's office said in a statement. Since the electoral process began in September last year, between 26 and 30 candidates have been murdered.

To add to Mexico's plight, a 4.0 magnitude earthquake was reported Sunday in the State of Chiapas at 9.02 Central Time. According to the National Seismological Service (SSN), the epicenter was located 47 km west of Cintalapa. The depth of the earthquake was 132.8 kilometers, which moderated its impact on the surface. The National Center for Disaster Prevention (Cenapred) issued an immediate call for calm. It urged the population not to fall for rumors or spread false news.