Claudia Sheinbaum, the first female president of Mexico

A woman will lead the country for the first time in history. President López Obrador’s successor has won a second term for the National Regeneration Movement and stifled the conservative coalition’s aspirations

Mexico has a new president. Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, 61, is the firstwoman to win a presidential election in the 200 years since the country’s independence.

It was a historic election day in many ways. With a turnout close to 61%, the successor of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador achieved between 58.6% and 60.7% of the vote, according to the quick count, a mathematical extrapolation based on voting records collected throughout the country that usually yields accurate results. The percentage obtained by Sheinbaum exceeds the 53% achieved by Andrés Manuel López Obrador in 2018, quite an achievement for a candidate with less political charisma.

Many questioned whether a sexist country like Mexico was ready to have a female president. The results at the ballot box proved that it is.