Claudia Sheinbaum on Sunday was elected president of Mexico, becoming the first woman and the first Jewish person ever to ascend to the position.
Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former Mexico City mayor, emerged with between 58.3 percent and 60.7 percent of the vote, the National Electoral Institute’s president said, citing a statistical sample projecting Sheinbaum as the winner.
Opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez, also a woman, had between 26.6 percent and 28.6 percent of the vote, and Jorge Álvarez Máynez had between 9.9 percent and 10.8 percent of the vote, the National Electoral Institute’s president reported.
With nearly 50 percent of polling places reporting, the official preliminary count had Sheinbaum leading Gálvez by 28 points.
Sheinbaum’s ruling Morena party was also projected to hold majorities in both chambers of Congress, The Associated Press reported.
“I will become the first woman president of Mexico,” Sheinbaum said at a downtown hotel in Mexico City shortly after she was projected to win the election.
“I don’t make it alone. We’ve all made it, with our heroines who gave us our homeland, with our mothers, our daughters and our granddaughters,” she added. “We have demonstrated that Mexico is a democratic country with peaceful elections.”
Sheinbaum said her two competitors called her and conceded the election.
Sheinbaum’s projected victory is a win for President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s legacy, which will live on through his hand-picked successor. Sheinbaum, a leftist, has spoken against economic inequality and supports government intervention through policies that strengthen the social safety net.
Sheinbaum will begin her six-year term Oct. 1.
The Associated Press contributed.