Claudia Sheinbaum is set to become Mexico’s first woman president in an historic win, exit polls suggest.
The 61-year-old former mayor of Mexico City is projected to win 56% of the vote in Sunday’s election, convincingly beating her main rival, businesswoman Xóchitl Gálvez.
Preliminary results also give her a wide lead.
If the exit polls are confirmed, Ms Sheinbaum will replace her mentor, outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, on 1 October.
Ms Sheinbaum has promised continuity, saying that she will continue to build on the “advances” made by Mr López Obrador.
Their Morena party has already claimed victory – but Ms Gálvez urged her supporters to wait for the official results, expected to be announced early on Monday.
Mario Delgado, the president of Morena, called the election a “stellar moment in the history of our country”.
Supporters started to arrive at the Zócalo, Mexico City’s main square, with banners reading “Claudia Sheinbaum, president” to celebrate her projected win after five exit polls gave her a wide lead.
A preliminary tally by Mexico’s National Electoral Institute after almost 10% of votes had been counted put her at 58%.
The election, which pitted Ms Sheinbaum against Ms Gálvez, has been described as a sea change for women in Mexico.
Edelmira Montiel, 87, said that she was grateful to be alive to see a woman elected to the top office.
“Before we couldn’t even vote, and when you could, it was to vote for the person your husband told you to vote for. Thank God that has changed and I get to live it,” she told Reuters news agency, referring to the fact that women were only allowed to vote in national elections in 1953.
While the fact that the two front-runners were women was widely celebrated, the campaign was marred by violent attacks.
As well as a new president, voters were also electing all members of Mexico’s Congress and governors in eight states, the head of Mexico City’s government, and thousands of local officials.
Source BBC
