Mexicans voted for a new president on Sunday in a contest dominated by women – a historic first that was overshadowed by election day violence in the crime-plagued Latin American nation. Thousands of troops were deployed to protect voters, following a particularly bloody electoral process that has seen more than two dozen aspiring local politicians murdered. Two people were reported dead on election day after attacks on polling stations to steal ballot papers.
Ruling party candidate Claudia Sheinbaum, a former Mexico City mayor and a scientist by training, had a 17 percentage point lead over her main opposition rival Xochitl Galvez in opinion polls ahead of the vote. It’s a historic day. I feel very happy, Sheinbaum, 61, said as she left her home. After casting her ballot, the presidential front-runner revealed that she had not voted for herself but for a 93-year-old veteran leftist, Ifigenia Martinez, in recognition of her struggle. Long live democracy! Sheinbaum declared.
Galvez, a 61-year-old outspoken senator and businesswoman with Indigenous roots, said after voting that she expected a huge participation in the election. What I would like most is that no Mexican had to go abroad to look for opportunities, she added. The only man running, centrist Jorge Alvarez Maynez, was trailing far behind in polling.
Nearly 100mn people were registered to vote in the world’s most populous Spanish-speaking country, home to 129mn people. Sheinbaum owes much of her popularity to outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a fellow leftist and mentor who has an approval rating of more than 60% but is only allowed to serve one term.
In a nation where politics, crime, and corruption are closely entangled, ultra-violent drug cartels have gone to extreme lengths to ensure their preferred candidates win. Hours before polls opened, a local candidate was murdered in a violent western state, and voting was suspended in two municipalities in the southern state of Chiapas because of violence.
The next president will also have to manage delicate relations with the neighboring United States, in particular the vexed issues of cross-border drug smuggling and migration. Sheinbaum has pledged to continue the outgoing president’s hugs not bullets strategy of tackling crime at its roots, while Galvez has vowed a tougher approach to cartel-related violence, declaring hugs for criminals are over.
As well as voting for a new president, Mexicans will choose members of Congress, several state governors, and myriad local officials. In total, more than 20,000 positions are being contested. Galvez often evokes her childhood story of growing up in a poor, rural town in central Mexico where she says she sold candy to help her family.
While millions of Mexicans have escaped poverty in recent years, more than a third still live below the poverty line in Latin America’s second-biggest economy. The next president will have a challenging path ahead, navigating politics, crime, and relations with the US, all while seeking to improve the lives of millions in Mexico.
