As expected, Claudia Sheinbaum decisively won Mexico’s presidential single-round election on Sunday and will take office on October 1. Sheinbaum—a center-left former head of government of Mexico City and protégée of outgoing president Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, known as AMLO—obtained 59 percent of the vote. That tally is more than twice as many as runner-up Xochitl Galvez, a conservative entrepreneur, and the highest vote percentage in the nation’s democratic history. Morena, the president-elect’s party, will hold majorities in both houses of Congress.
Sheinbaum was boosted by AMLO’s charisma and capacity to set the public debate agenda, as well as his successes in reducing poverty and unemployment during his term. However, Sheinbaum will inherit profound challenges when it comes to corruption, violence, economic growth, and adapting to climate change.
Five major questions stand out as the environmental scientist, first woman, and first Jewish person to lead Mexico takes power.
The first is whether Sheinbaum will continue the steady erosion of democracy that her predecessor, AMLO, has overseen during his six years in office. This erosion includes the weakening of independent regulators such as the electoral authority. Given her party’s large congressional majorities, she may…
Read full article here
