Claudia Sheinbaum elected Mexico’s first female president | CNN (2024)

Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador attends a press conference after the general election in Mexico City, on June 3.

Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he will not influence newly elected president Claudia Sheinbaum in naming future officials for the country after Sunday’s landslide victory.

“She is going to choose her team,” he added.

However, he suggested that changes would come with the new president because it waspart of the “transformation” he started for the country when he took office nearly six years ago.

López Obrador also said he may discuss constitutional reforms with Sheinbaum during the transition period but made it clear that he didn’t “want to impose anything.”

Sheinbaum will take office on October 1. Her term will last six years.

López Obrador, who is Sheinbaum’s political mentor, congratulated her on the win.

“We already spoke yesterday (Sunday); I congratulated her.I am very happy because imagine what it means to hand over the presidency to a woman after 200 years of only men ruling Mexico,” the president said.

The president said that once he hands over the presidential band, he plans to retire from political life entirely and will do so with “a lot of satisfaction.”

“Let it be heard loud and clear:after I finish my term in office, I will retire, and I will never again participate in any public or political act,” he said.

US President Joe Biden speaks at the White House in Washington on May 31.

US President Joe Biden congratulated Claudia Sheinbaum on her historic presidential win as Mexico’s first woman to lead the country’s government.

“I look forward to working closely with President-elect Sheinbaum in the spirit of partnership and friendship that reflects the enduring bonds between our two countries,” he said in a statement Monday.“I expressed our commitment to advancing the values and interests of both our nations to the benefit of our peoples.”

Read Biden’s full statement:

A woman walks past a board showing currency exchange rates of theMexican peso against the US dollar in Mexico City, on May 28.

The Mexican peso slipped roughly 3% against the US dollar Monday morning.

It comes after Claudia Sheinbaum’s projected landslide victory, which has raised concerns that the ruling Morena party will be able to pass more ambitious constitutional reforms, many of which had been sought by outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

“Sheinbaum is perceived as more of a technocrat than AMLO, and she also has a background in climate science. Both offer potential shifts in Mexican policy,” wrote Bespoke Investment Group researchers in a Monday note.

Claudia Sheinbaum waves to supporters in Mexico City on June 3.

Latin American leaders are celebrating Claudia Sheinbaum’s projected win as Mexico’s president with leaders referencing a common theme — that her appointment would hopefully see strengthened relationships between countries on the continent.

Sheinbaum willface several challenges, including security, organized crime, energy and immigration, and would also set the tone forthe pivotal US-Mexicobilateral relationship.

People queue to vote at a polling station in Colonia Libertad, near the US-Mexico border in Tijuana, Mexico, on June 2.

Sunday’s poll was the largest election in the country’s history. More than 98 million voters were registered to cast a ballot, and 1.4 million Mexicans were eligible to vote abroad.

In addition to the presidency, more than 20,000 positions were being contested by an estimated 70,000 candidates vying to become senators, mayors and governors.

But the elections were plagued byimmense violence. There have been more than 20 political killings since September, according to the Mexican government. By some estimates though, that number is even higher. According to Mexican consultancy firm Integralia, at least 34 candidates were murdered in the run-up to the vote.

Voting was suspended for several hours on Sunday in the southeastern Mexican town of Coyomeapan due to violence at the polling centers, according to state electoral authorities.

And while the murder rate fell in Mexicobetween 2019 and 2022, in absolute numbers the country is still reeling from historically high levels of around 30,000 homicides each year. The true number is likely higher, experts say.

The violence appeared to have been a top concern for voters as cartels extend their grip through Mexico.

Claudia Sheinbaum has been coy about her security proposals but has pointed to her record as Mexico City mayor, when, according to her team, she improved the police force’s working conditions and intelligence-gathering abilities.

A video of outgoing Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador congratulating projected president Claudia Sheinbaum is displayed at a hotel in Mexico City on June 3.

Mexico’s President Andres Manuel López Obrador has congratulated Claudia Sheinbaum on her expected win in Sunday’s presidential election.

López Obrador also congratulated the other presidential candidates and the Mexican people, saying he was proud of the large turnout.

Claudia Sheinbaum addresses supporters in Mexico City on Monday, June 3.

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.

She also spoke about the historical significance of becoming the first female president of the country.

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.

Ruling party presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum leaves the polling station where she voted during general elections in Mexico City, on June 2.

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.

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.

Claudia Sheinbaum waves to her supporters in Mexico City on June 3.

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.

Presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum arrives at her closing campaign rally at the Zocalo in Mexico City on May 29.

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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.

Claudia Sheinbaum arrives at her closing campaign rally at the Zocalo in Mexico City on May 29.

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.

ClaudiaSheinbaum, presidential candidate of the ruling MORENA party, gives a thumb up after she voted in the general elections, in Mexico City, Mexico June 2.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Supporters of Claudia Sheinbaum, former mayor of Mexico City and presidential candidate for the Morena party, celebrate during an election night rally at Zocalo Plaza in Mexico City, Mexico, on Sunday.

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.

Readmore about today’s historic election here.

Mexico’s National Electoral Institute (INE) opened its preliminary electoral results program (known as PREP) on Sunday night.

The system captures results from each of the polling locations in the federal elections.

The PREP is updated in real time and is expected to be open for 24 hours, until 10 p.m. ET on Monday.

Earlier on Sunday, an official of the INE said that at some point in the evening they would report results from the “fast count,” which is “a procedure to provide citizens with early and accurate information on election results.”

Official results have not yet been announced by the the INE.

Here’s a look at where things stand with about 25.4% of electoral records captured from the PREP:

You can track the latest results here.

Supporters of Claudia Sheinbaum gather in the Zocalo plaza inMexicoCity,Mexico,on June 2.

Crowds are starting to arrive in the Zócalo, the main square in Mexico City, where supporters of Morena candidate Claudia Sheinbaum are gathering, CNN en Español’s Natalia Cano reports.

Cano interviewed Sheinbaum’s supporters, who were already celebrating having a woman president, and the first of the left.

Sunday’s election is seen by some as a referendum on the policies of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The Mexican president is Sheinbaum’s mentor, whose popular social welfare helped poorer Mexicans, but whose “hugs, not bullets” policy of not confronting cartels has not led to a substantial drop in homicide numbers.

Cano reported that people are arriving in the main square with flags and signs.

The official results of the presidential election are yet to be announced.

Indigenous women vote during general elections in Zinacantan, Mexico, on Sunday.

US officials are closely monitoring Mexico’s presidential election Sunday as they prepare a border executive action that could be announced as early as Tuesday.

Mexico is a key US ally on a range of issues, from trade to cracking down on drug trafficking to managing migration. Current and former US officials have frequently described the relationship between President Joe Biden and Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador as friendly and professional — and anticipate a productive relationship with Mexico’s next president.

But Mexico’s election also comes at a critical time for the Biden administration.

In recent months, the US has relied heavily on Mexico to step up immigration enforcement and help stem the flow of migration to the US southern border. The election in Mexico has raised uncertainty in the minds of some Biden officials about what, if anything, will change with a key partner when it comes to border cooperation.

One of the considerations in rolling out a new border executive action was doing so after Mexico’s election. The administration will likely need buy-in and assistance from Mexico to execute the order.

Officials expect that a new administration in Mexico would likely continue cooperating with the US on migration given years of partnership, but it’s unclear how migrants — and especially, smugglers — might plot their next moves in a moment of government transition.

Mexico appears set to elect its first female president, which would mark a remarkable achievement in a country known for its patriarchal culture and high rates of gender-based violence, wherearound 10 womenare murdered every day.

Mexico remains a dangerous place to be a woman, withsky-high femiciderates forthe region, though it outranks several countries interms of women’sparliamentary representation.

Here’s a look at where women are in the top seat of power:

CNN’s Tara John contributed reporting to this post.

Presidential candidates Xóchitl Gálvez and Claudia Sheinbaum.

Mexico’s ruling Morena party and the opposition coalition are making early claims of victory in the country’s elections, even though official results have not yet been announced by the National Electoral Institute (INE).

Morenaparty chief Mario Delgado said exit polls showed that Claudia Sheinbaum “will be the first female president in our history!”

But Xóchitl Gálvez, presidential candidate for the opposition alliance, said her coalition won the elections and called on President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to respect the vote of Mexicans.

Both declarations came as INE chief Guadalupe Taddei Zavala called on political parties to “respect the rules of the game and accept the results with maturity and responsibility.”

The presidential candidate of Movimiento Ciudadano, Jorge Álvarez Máynez, has not yet commented publicly on what Delgado and Gálvez said.

When will results be announced?The first results of Mexico’s presidential election will be reported between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. local time (12 a.m. ET and 1 a.m. ET), the INE said earlier today.

These initial results will be part of what is known as the “fast count,” which is “a procedure to provide citizens with early and accurate information on election results,” said Uuc-kib Espadasfrom INE.

Mexicans voted for national and local candidates during a massive and historic election Sunday. With over 98 million eligible voters and more than 20,000 public offices being contested,this election is the largest in the country’s history.

Mexicans are also expected to elect their first female president. Claudia Sheinbaum from the leftist Morena party and Xochitl Gálvez from the opposition coalition are the top presidential candidates vying for the role.

See photos from around Mexico as voters headed to the polls:

A man casts his ballot at a polling station in Mexico City on Sunday.

People lining up to vote at a polling station in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, on Sunday.

A polling station official marks a citizen's thumb with indelible ink in Monterrey, Mexico, on Sunday.

Voters cast their ballots in Mexico City on Sunday.

Indigenous Tzotzil people queue to vote in Zinacantan, Chiapas state, Mexico, on Sunday.

A woman casts her ballot at a polling station in San Bartolome Quialana, Mexico, on Sunday.

Guadalupe Taddei Zavala, president of the National Electoral Institute of Mexico (INE), confirmed this Sunday evening that all polling stations have been closed nationwide and that the vote counting process has already begun.

Taddei Zavala described the elections as a “historic day” and called on political parties to “respect the rules of the game and accept the results with maturity and responsibility.”

Security and immigration were among the top issues for all of Mexico’s presidential candidates.

Campaigning in the run-up to the election has been marred by dozens of assassination attempts and other political violence. There are concerns now that the attacks have alreadycooled off campaigns; experts and political parties say some candidates have renounced their bids in fear for their lives.

But electoral violence is just one part of Mexico’s broader security crisis, with sky-highcrimeandhomicide rates.In the first four and a half years of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s government,160,594 homicides were recorded– a figure surpassing thatofthe previous administration.

However, a report from the Mexican Peace Index, prepared by theInstitute for Economy and Peace, hasofferedsome reason for optimism, reporting improvements infive key indicators: homicides, crimes with violence, fear of violence, crimes committed with firearms, and crimes of violence.Homicides and crimes committed withfirearms peakedin 2019, according to the May 2024 report,and have since improved.

Meanwhile, pressure is growing on Mexico’s southern and northern borders.

In 2023, the National Migration Institute recorded a77% increase in migrant arrivals compared to 2022.

And as it grapples with the surge of migrants and asylum seekers entering and crossing its own territory, Mexico will also have to contend with external policies on migration.

Polls have now closed nationwide in Mexico’s historic elections.

People who were in line to vote before polling stations closed at 6 p.m. local time will be able to vote, the National Electoral Institute of Mexico (INE) said earlier Sunday.

Results will begin to be reported between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. local (12 a.m. ET and 1 a.m. ET), according to the INE.

The first results of Mexico’s presidential election will be reported between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. local time (12 a.m. ET and 1 a.m. ET), Uuc-kib Espadas from Mexico’s National Electoral Institute (INE) said earlier today.

These initial results will be part of what is known as the “quick count,” which is “a procedure to provide citizens with early and accurate information on election results,” Espadas explained.

This is a statistical method that predicts the trend in voting from a random sample of polling stations that is also broadcast on the night of the election, according to the INE.

Claudia Sheinbaum and Xóchitl Gálvez.

Political analyst Palmira Tapia and Mariana Linares Cruz, co-founder of Aúna, a platform that promotes new political representations with women’s leadership, told CNN that the two female candidates vying to be president — Claudia Sheinbaum and Xóchitl Gálvez — have the careers and political trajectories for the role.

Their professional paths and stances on issues differ, however, and neither has dedicated themselves exclusively to politics.

Sheinbaum has a more academic profile despite her parents’ involvement in political activism through their participation in the 1968 student movement. In 2018, Sheinbaum won the position of Head of Government of Mexico Cityforthe Morena party, a role she held until 2023, making her the first woman elected to this position in the capital.

Gálvez, an engineer and daughter of an Otomi father and a mestiza mother, worked in the private sector until 2000 when she began her political career by joining President Vicente Fox’s cabinet as head of the OfficeforIndigenous Peoples’ Attention.

Sheinbaum has evident government support, something that has happened at various times in Mexico’s recent history, which, according to Linares Cruz, diminishes her. Gálvez is perceived as “very alone.” “None of the parties that decided to support her are truly with her,” said the analyst.

The different political profiles of both candidates imply that their way of governing would also be different. However, experts CNN spoke with agree that the key should be that both have a political agenda regarding women, something that has been more visible in Sheinbaum’s rallies, but still insufficient, as it has been with the opposition candidate.

Translated by Karol Suarez. Inés Amarelo, Natalia Cano, Israel Macedo, and David Shortell contributed reporting to this post.

A person holds a sign with a message that reads in Spanish: "We are all the same Mexico", at an opposition rally called to encourage voting in the upcoming election in the Zocalo, Mexico City's main square, on May 19.

With more than 98 million eligible voters, some 70,000 candidates and over 20,000 public offices being contested,Mexico’sgeneral election Sunday is the largest in the country’s history.

But it’s not just the massive scale of the event that makes it so important in the eyes of observers across the border in the United States.

For the first time in history, the country looks set to electits first female president.The two front-runners are both women – Claudia Sheinbaum, of the Morena party, who is backed by the governing coalition Sigamos Haciendo Historia, and Xóchitl Gálvez, who is backed by a coalition of opposition parties.

The vote is also important because it falls in the same year as the US presidential election – something that happens only once every 12 years – and comes at a time of transition in the relationship between the two countries.

Here are a look at some of the biggest issues affecting the US-Mexico relationship that will be influenced by Sunday’s vote:

Economy: Mexico became the United States’ top trading partner last year, surpassing China and Canada. Experts say this is largely because geopolitical issues such as the pandemic, the legacy of Trump’s trade war against China, and the war in Ukraine all encouraged near-shoring – the relocation of supply chains nearer to home – which boosted US imports from Mexico and its investment in the country.

Migration: While migration across the countries’ 1,933 miles long border is a shared concern, the issue is much lower on Mexican politicians’ agenda than in the US — where it could be a decisive factor in the November vote, according to Carin Zissis, editor-in-chief of the Americas Society/Council of the Americas website. “The speeches of Sheinbaum and Gálvez on migration are neither very strong nor very different from each other, nor do they address too much what to do with migrants in the country,” she said. The rub for US politicians is that they need buy-in from their Mexican counterparts if their own immigration policies are to succeed.

Fentanyl and the drug trade: Security is another pillar of the bilateral relationship, particularly in terms of the thriving cross-border drug trade that blights both countries. While the United States has been grappling with a domestic health crisis due to the amount of fentanyl on its streets, Mexico faces increasing cartel-linked violence – including in the run-up to the election which has been marred by dozens of assassination attempts and other political violence.

Read the full analysis here.

Preliminary data indicates that more than 180,000 Mexicans residing abroad voted in Sunday’s elections, Arturo Castillo from Mexico’s National Electoral Institute (INE) said in a news conference.

According to the official, just the electronic voting, for example, exceeded the total participation registered abroad in the 2018 elections.

Claudia Sheinbaum delivers a speech at a her campaign closing rally at the Zocalo in Mexico City on May 29.

In early March, Claudia Sheinbaum, who is the candidate for the ruling Morena party, presented 100 points outlining her project at the Zócalo in Mexico City for the upcoming elections.

Here is a look at five of her key proposals:

Translated by Karol Suarez. CNN’s Rey Rodríguez, Laura Paddison, Jack Guy, Fidel Gutiérrez, Krupskaia Alís, and Carmen Sánchez contributed reporting to this post.

People walk through the Zocalo in Mexico City on May 30.

Claudia Sheinbaum, representing the ruling party, and Xóchitl Gálvez, representing the opposition, are facing off in Mexico’s presidential election.

These two candidates are currently leading in the polls. Experts consulted by CNN stated that it is “great news” that the country is on the path to having a female president, noting that each candidate has different backgrounds and their presidencies would differ accordingly.

Mariana Linares Cruz, co-founder of Aúna, a platform that promotes new political representations with women’s leadership, agreed on the positive impact of seeing a female candidate with secured political rights, emphasizing its representativeness for other women.

While both experts agreed on the symbolic positivity of the high likelihood of a woman leading Mexico’s presidency, Linares Cruz said that this also represents “very little.”

While she acknowledged that women’s agendas are inherently different from men’s “simply because they carry and are influenced by their bodies,” she emphasized that civil society’s role should be not only to accompany them but also to ensure they develop an agenda for women.

Some historical context: In Mexico, women could vote in federalelectionsforthe first time in 1955, a late date compared to other countries in the region, such as Brazil in 1932, or Argentina, where they first voted nationally in 1951.

In 1993, gender quotas were first introduced in Mexican electoral legislation as a suggestion, according to the National Electoral Institute (INE).

The principle of parity was incorporated into the Mexican Constitution in 2014, with Article 41 establishing that parties must field equal numbers of male and female candidatesforfederal and local congresses. In the 2018elections, parity was achieved in both chambers of Congress.

Translated by Karol Suarez. CNN’s Inés Amarelo, Natalia Cano, Israel Macedo, and David Shortell contributed reporting to this post.

Mexican Army and National Guard members take part in the "Operation Juarez" aimed at reducing violence in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on February 17.

With security topping voter concerns, the leading candidates in Mexico’s presidential election — Claudia Sheinbaum and Xochitl Gálvez — have largely remained coy about their proposals.

Neitherhasrepudiated a nearly two-decades-long approach of relying on the armed forces to tackle organized crime – whichhas coincided withhistorically high levels of homicides.

Sheinbaum, a former climate scientist, has pledged to continue with her predecessor’s policies. She has pointed to her record as Mexico City mayor, with her team indicating having improved conditions for police and better intelligence gathering about criminal networks.

Gálvez has been critical of Mexican President Andrés López Obrador’s non-confrontational approach to cartels. She has suggestedpulling forces back fromdomestic securityroles, increasing the number of police in violent areas, and building a new highsecurity prison.

“Claudia Sheinbaum is offering to continue the hugs for criminals … I am offering to build a Mexico where we can end violence, but above all, to bet on health and education.”

Both have spoken of the need to strengthen police and civilian institutions, and better use intelligence and coordination. “But the extent to which either one of them really means to emphasize or follow through on that is very unclear,” Stephanie Brewer, Mexico Director at the Washington Office for Latin America (WOLA), told CNN

Experts have been underwhelmed by the lack of new approaches to the security situation, saying there is aconnectionbetween militarization and more bloodshed in the country since its inception in 2006,when former President Felipe Calderón declared an all-out-war against criminal groups.

“Mexico cannot deploy its way out of problems like impunity or corruption in institutions or lack of effective criminal investigation,”Brewertold CNN. “Militarization simply is not a tool that could ever do that.”

Polls are starting to close in Mexico’s presidential election at 6 p.m. local time (8 p.m. ET).

Mexicans are participating in a historic election, overshadowed by violence,that is expected to return the country’s first woman president. Those still in line to vote as the polls close will be allowed to cast a ballot, according to election officials.

The two leading presidential candidates are women: Claudia Sheinbaum from the leftist Morena party and Xóchitl Gálvez, from the conservative PAN party, who is representing a coalition of opposition parties. The third candidate is Jorge Álvarez Máynez, the youngest in the race, who is representing the center-left Citizens’ Movement.

Sunday’s poll is the largest election in the country’s history. More than 98 million voters are registered to cast a ballot inMexico, and 1.4 million Mexicans are eligible to vote abroad. More than 20,000 positions are set to be filled with an estimated 70,000 candidates vying to become senators, mayors and governors.

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.

While voting was largely peaceful on Sunday, it was suspended in the southeastern Mexican town of Coyomeapan due to violence at the polling centers in the morning, according to state electoral authorities.

The poll is seen by some as a referendum on the policies of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador – Sheinbaum’s mentor, whose popular social welfare helped poorer Mexicans, but whose “hugs, not bullets” policy of not confronting cartels has not led to a substantial drop in homicide numbers.

Read more about today’s historic election here.

Presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez waves to supporters during an election campaign rally in Tarimbaro, Michoacan state, Mexico, on April 21.

Xóchitl Gálvez, Mexico’s presidential candidate for the opposition coalition PRI-PAN-PRD, defines herself as “the bravest woman who will face crime,” according to posts on X.

As part of her agenda leading up to Mexico’s 2024 presidential elections, she has reiterated her commitment to security, saying “We will act with all the force and capacity of the State so you can live in a #MxSinMiedo” (Mexico without fear).

Gálvez says on her website that she is “a woman of liberties, who respects institutions, and who will be brave to confront organized crime.” For her supporters, her candidacy represents a committed alternative to citizen protection. She proposes implementing security strategies in Mexico to “modernize the police forces in Puebla and all of Mexico so they can protect the population and send criminals to jail.”

Gálvez promises to end fuel theft and advocates for a salary increase of 20,000 pesos (about US $1,200), housing credits, and scholarships for municipal police officers, emphasizing the importance of “taking care of those who take care of us.”

Committed to providing universal access to medical care and medications through the “My Health” Card, Gálvez aims to strengthen the healthcare system and ensure the well-being of all families, as stated in posts on X.

Supporters of opposition presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez chant her name at her closing campaign rally in Los Reyes la Paz on the outskirts of Mexico City on May 29.

Her path to the candidacy: Gálvez was born on February 22, 1963, in Tepatepec, Hidalgo, into a low-income family, with a mestiza mother and an indigenous father. Her personal story has led her to be an advocate for indigenous rights and gender equality.

Despite economic challenges, Gálvez accessed university education through a scholarship, studying at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where she met her current partner, Rubén Sánchez, a Mexican businessman who could become the first gentleman of Mexico if Gálvez wins.

She carved her path in the business world starting in 1992 when she established High Tech Services Consulting, a pioneering company in the fields of smart buildings, energy efficiency, process automation and telecommunications. By 2000, she had become the first Mexican woman included in the list of 100 Global Leadersforthe Future at the World EconomicForum in Davos.

She served as the head and general director of the National Commissionforthe Development of Indigenous Peoples from 2003 to 2006. In the 2015 localelections in Mexico City, Gálvez ran as a candidateforthe head of the Miguel Hidalgo boroughforthe National Action Party (PAN), winning with 32% of the vote and serving until March 15, 2018. In 2018, she ranforthe Senate representing Mexico Cityforthe “Por México al Frente” coalition (PAN, MC and PRD) and was also a candidate on the proportional representation list of the PRD, securing a Senate seat.

Translated by Karol Suarez. CNN’s Rey Rodríguez, Krupskaia Alís, and Aitana Ocaña contributed reporting to this post.

In Los Angeles, there’s a long line outside the Mexican consulate to vote in the election, CNN’s Camila Bernal reported.

Bernal noted that she saw great enthusiasm among voters to participate in the election, given that many have family in Mexico.

See the scene in Los Angeles:

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03:37 - Source: cnn

Voting was suspended in the southeastern Mexican town of Coyomeapan due to violence at the polling centers on Sunday morning, according to state electoral authorities.

Election officials in the state of Puebla, where the town is located, said a shooting took place at the polling station in the center of town, leading toits closure for a few hours.

Voting is set to resume at 6 p.m.local time (8 p.m. ET) if security measures allow, Blanca Yassahara Cruz García, the president of the Electoral Institute of Puebla, said in a news conference.

Some background: Violence has plagued this year’s elections in Mexico, with dozens of candidates killed.

There have been more than 20 political killings since September, according to the Mexican government. By some estimates, that number is even higher, with at least 34 candidates murdered, according to the Mexican consultancy firm Integralia.

A woman casts her vote at a polling station in San Juan Chamula, Mexico, on Sunday.

Polls in Mexico are set to begin to close at 6 p.m. local time (8 p.m. ET).

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, the youngest in the race, who is representing the center-left Citizens’ Movement.

Sunday’s poll is the largest election in the country’s history. More than 98 million voters are registered to cast a ballot inMexico, and 1.4 million Mexicans are eligible to vote abroad. More than 20,000 positions are set to be filled with an estimated 70,000 candidates vying to become senators, mayors and governors.

How voting has unfolded so far: Polls opened at 8 a.m. local time, however, on Sunday, some voting stations in parts of the country opened with delays. Long lines were seen in Mexico City, Yucatán, Tuxtla, Cuauhtémoc, and voting centers abroad.

In Madrid, Spain, expatriate Mexicans told CNN they waited more than eight hours to cast their ballots. One Mexican voter said she had been in line for 11 hours. Authorities are telling them Mexico’s National Electoral Institute(INE) is to blame.

Of the more than 200,000 expatriate votes expected to come from abroad, more than 70% will be coming from voters living in the United States. Outside the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles, thousands of people queued up to vote on Sunday as some in the crowd chanted “Morena” — the name of the ruling party.

Gálvez told reporters on Sunday that she was not nervous and was happy about the large voter turnout. She added that she was expecting it to be a long day and a very close call.

Outside polling stations, voters told CNN that public security was one of their main concerns. Violence has loomed large in this election, the bloodiest in Mexico’s history. Dozens of political candidates and applicants have been killed by gangstrying to influencethose coming into power.A minute of silence was held on Sunday by the advisers of the INE in memory of the people who have been murdered during this electoral period.

Whoever is elected will face several challenges, including security, organized crime, energy, immigration, and strengthening the US-Mexicorelationship. US officials are closely monitoring the presidential election as it comes at a critical time for the Biden administration.

Xóchitl Gálvez and Claudia Sheinbaum.

Women in Mexico did not enjoy universal suffrage until 1953, a full 33 years after women gained the right in the US, but the country is almost sure to have its first female leader before the US does.

CNN’s Tara John points out in an analysis for CNN International that Mexico’s likely election of a woman as president is “a remarkable achievement in a country known for its patriarchal culture and high rates of gender-based violence, wherearound 10 womenare murdered every day.”

Some of the reasons for Mexico’s move toward political gender parity are structural.Mexican lawrequires political parties there to put equal numbers of women and men up for election. That’s not going to happen in the US.

There are also one-term limits on presidents, forcing more turnover. The current front-runner in Mexico’s presidential election,Claudia Sheinbaum, is on the ballot because her party’s popular president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, must step aside.

The Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers notes that the progress American women had been making for decades at the state level, beginning in the 1970s, had stalled until after the election of Donald Trump in 2016. At that time, a new generation of American women got active. Since the 2018 midterms, though, progress has slowed.

Now, according toCAWP’s tally for 2024:

Those figures continue to slowly grow, but they are nowhere near gender parity. By comparison, half of the legislators in Mexico’s lower house of Congress are women, according to theInter-Parliamentary Union.

In countries with quota systems, the move toward parity has been much quicker, but experts say we shouldn’t expect such a system in the US.

Read more here.

Voters have waited outside the Mexican Embassy in Madrid, Spain, for more than eight hours on Sunday to cast their ballots in the country’s general elections.

One Mexican living in Spain told CNN that she had been in line for 11 hours. Authorities are telling them Mexico’s National Electoral Institute (INE) is to blame.

Voter Lucia Rodriguez said, “I don’t think they (the Mexican Embassy) have the resources to hold this election here.”

The INE said in a post on Sunday afternoon that voters waiting in line in Madrid and Paris’ embassies can now cast their ballots. Theyadded that the polls will close once 1,500 votes have been cast, or everyone who registered votes.

According to the embassy’s X page, polls were set to open at 8 a.m. local time in Madrid (2 a.m. ET Sunday). CNN has contactedthe Mexican Embassy in Madrid for comment.

Mexican presidential candidates Claudia Sheinbaum and Xóchitl Gálvez spoke to reporters Sunday morning on their way to cast their ballots.

Gálvez, the conservative PAN opposition party candidate, said to a group of reporters that she is not nervous and is happy about the large voter turnout. Gálvez added that this is going to be a long day and a very close call.

Sheinbaum, the leftist Morena party presidential candidate, told reporters she is excited about today and that her family is excited and ready to vote as well. Sheinbaum added that her message to Mexicans is to go out and vote on this important day. She continued, “This is a historic day, I am feeling very happy.”

People carry a coffin that contains the remains of a man slain in a mass shooting into a church for a funeral service in Huitzilac, Mexico, on May 14.

What should have been celebrated as a ground-breaking electionhas become overshadowed by the bloodiest election campaignin Mexico’s history,and ongoing high levels of violence across the country.

At least34 political candidates or applicants have been murderedsinceJune 2023as gangs try and influence those coming into power, according to a report by research group Laboratorio Electoral,which also foundhundreds of attacks on candidates and people related to the current electoral process.

And whilethe murder rate has fallen in Mexicobetween 2019 and 2022, in absolute numbers the country is still reeling from historically high levels of homicides of around 30,000 peoplemurderedeach year, say experts.

The central challenge for the next president will beconvincing voters that she can end the near-certain impunity in Mexico;around 95%of all crimes nationwidewent unsolvedin the country in2022, according to think tankMexico Evalua.

Read the full analysis.

On Sunday night, Mexicans will vote to pick their next president in a historic race that appears assured to seea woman take the top job for the first time.

In addition to the presidency, there are more than 20,000 positions to fill and an estimated 70,000 candidates vying for those offices, including 128 senate seats and 500 deputy seats; the mayorship of Mexico City; and governor’s offices in Chiapas, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Morelos, Puebla, Tabasco, Veracruz and Yucatán.

Here’s who is running for president:

Claudia Sheinbaum: The 61-year-old Sheinbaum is a former Mexico City mayor and climate scientist. A longtime political ally of incumbent President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, she was theMexico Cityenvironment secretaryfrom 2000-2006when hewas mayor.

Among her policies,Sheinbaum has promised:

Xóchitl Gálvez: Backed by an opposition coalition of Mexico’s PRI, PAN and PRD parties, Gálvez is a former senator and previously served as the top official for indigenous affairs under former President Vicente Fox.

The daughter of an indigenous father and a mixed-race mother, the 61-year-old was a businesswoman before entering politics.

Her proposals include:

Gálvez has also hinted that oil-rich Mexico should invest more in renewable energy, saying earlier this year: “We haven’t done it because we are dumbasses.”

Jorge Álvarez Máynez: A late entrant in the race, Jorge Álvarez Máynez shot to international attention earlier this month when a stage collapsed at his campaign event in the northeastern city of San Pedro Garza García, killing nine people and leaving at least 121 people injured.

The 38-year-old has pledged to:

Claudia Sheinbaum was campaigning for president in southernMexicowhen hooded men approached her car, filmingthe interactionas they implored her to keep their town from being taken over by gangs.

One man said he felt helpless, and that the government had “never done anything for these lands.” They lived in Chiapas, Mexico’s poorest state and anincreasinglyimportant territory for criminal organizations moving illegal drugs, firearms and migrants fromneighboring Guatemala.Sheinbaum thanked the men, shaking one of their hands before her car pulled away.

The former Mexico City mayoris the frontrunner in a landmark electionSundaywhere Mexico is all but certain to emerge with its first female president – a remarkable achievement in a country known for its patriarchal culture and high rates of gender-based violence, wherearound 10 womenare murdered every day.

Mexico is a world leader when it comes to gender equality in elected office, which was cemented in 2019 constitutionreform.Itoutflanksseveral countries interms of women’sparliamentary representation.

Yet Mexico remains a dangerous place to be a woman, withsky-high femiciderates forthe region.

The mostrecent datafrom Mexico’sNational Institute of Statistics and Geography found that at least 11,852 femicides were recorded in the first three years of López Obrador’s presidency – higher than the 7,439 reported during the same period of Enrique Peña Nieto’s presidency (2012-2018).

Xóchitl Gálvez and Claudia Sheinbaum.

In Mexico, the frontrunners in the 2024 presidential electionare both women, andwomen make upat least 50% of Congress, half the Cabinet, and lead the Supreme Court.When the nation goes to the polls on June 2, the odds strongly favor the election of Mexico’s first woman president, a stark contrast to the United States, which has never elected a woman to the highest office and has seen its Supreme Court overturn a ruling that established a national right for women to choose abortion.

Mexican presidential frontrunners Claudia Sheinbaum and Xóchitl Gálvez have voiced their support for reproductive rights, even ifneither has shared specific proposals on abortion. Gálvez, a former senator who is of indigenous Otomi ancestry, has said, “I don’t agree with criminalizing any woman who has an abortion, I am totally against it.”Sheinbaum, a scientist and the former Mexico City mayor,has promised to guarantee“access to health for women throughout their life cycle, especially with regard to sexual and reproductive health.”

Activists demonstrate in favor of the decriminalization of abortion on International Safe Abortion Day in Mexico City in September 2023.

If Gálvez or Sheinbaum are elected, it would be a historic moment for Mexico.If former President Donald Trump wins the US election in Novemberand oversees a further restriction of access to women’s health services, women may need to cross the border to Mexico to access such fundamental reproductive rights as buying birth control.

This is not to say that Mexico’s candidates are perfect because women are as complex and fallible as anyone else. For example,Sheinbaum is a staunch supporter of current Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has called women’s rights activists“pseudo-feminists.”Nearly 100 million Mexicanswill cast their ballots on June 2, and in Mexico, many debate whether Sheinbaum, who leads the race, will be a feminist leader or even a great president.

Read the full story here.

Mexican Army and National Guard members take part in the "Operation Juarez" aimed at reducing violence in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on February 17.

As Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador prepares to wrap up his term, security experts CNN spoke to concluded that he has failed to fulfill his promise to pacify the country with his “hugs, not bullets” approach.

During an episode of CNN en Español’s Mexico Opina hosted by journalist Mario González, security expert Ana María Salazar, Daira Arana, researcher and director of Global Thought Mexico, and Francisco Rivas, director of the National Citizen Observatory, analyzed the current administration’s security strategy and statistics.

He argued that the federal agency does not compare similar periods “but rather compares completely disconnected data.”

In its most recent report, the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection claimed that homicides dropped by 22% in March 2024 compared to December 2018, the month when this administration began.

The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) reported that López Obrador’s administration recorded 160,594 homicides in its first four and a half years, surpassing the death toll of his predecessor, Enrique Peña Nieto’s entire administration.

When asked about the record number of homicides during his administration, López Obrador acknowledged the increase in homicides but claimed there was “less violence.”

According to him, the contrast exists because “there are fewer robberies than in previous administrations, fewer kidnappings than in previous administrations; and fewer federal crimes.” He attributed the rise in homicides to gangs created during previous governments that are now active.

Rivas, who has focused on data analysis at the National Citizen Observatory, added, “If we compare the rate, that is, the proportion of victims relative to investigation files we had in the past, we are 50% higher than the last administration, and 65% higher than two administrations ago.”

Translated by Karol Suarez.