Claudia Sheinbaum will be the ruling party of Mexico’s presidential candidate next year, moving the country closer to electing its first female president.
The left-wing Morena party selected the former Mexico City mayor after surveying polls, and with the dominant party’s support, Sheinbaum is expected to hold a significant advantage in 2024, per the Associated Press.
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“I’m excited. I feel very proud, very honored,” Sheinbaum, 61, said, thanking her competitors by name.
Sheinbaum will be running against Mexican lawmaker Xóchitl Gálvez, the country’s broad opposition coalition announced last week. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, elected in 2018, is unable to run for a second six-year term due to the country’s constitution. However, Sheinbaum is an ally of the sitting president and was expected to be his preferred successor.
🇲🇽 Mexico‘s Morena party tonight named its presidential candidate. She is the former mayor of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum. Now two women, Sheinbaum vs Xóchitl Galvez, are in a face-off to become the next president of Mexico. pic.twitter.com/EmmerOgj2M
— Franc Contreras (@FrancMex) September 7, 2023
López Obrador is largely popular with his citizens, giving Sheinbaum an expected additional edge as she can promise more of the same to the Mexican people. Before becoming the mayor of Mexico’s capital, she was an environmentalist and scientist.
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In June, when she stepped down as mayor to seek Morena’s nomination, Sheinbaum said, “It’s the time for women,” and she pledged to continue López Obrador’s so-called “transformation” of Mexico, per the Guardian.
With Sheinbaum and Gálvez set to face off, Mexico looks likely to elect its first female president in over 200 years. The general election will be held on June 2, 2024.
