By Abiola Olawale
Claudia Sheinbaum is set to become the first female president in Mexico’s 200-year history.
The 61-year-old former Mayor of Mexico City has won between 58 and 60% of the preliminary results of votes cast in the Sunday, June 2, 2024, election.
With the preliminary results, Sheinbaum is in a comfortable lead over her main rival, businesswoman Xóchitl Gálvez.
Sheinbaum will replace her mentor, outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on October 1, 2024, as president.
Reacting to the victory, Sheinbaum assured the citizens of Mexico of the dividends of democracy
In a short statement, Sheinbaum told voters: “I won’t fail you.”
The New Diplomat reports that Sheinbaum was mayor of Mexico City, one of the most influential political positions in the country and one that is seen as paving the way for her presidency.
Her paternal grandparents hailed from Lithuania. Both of her parents were scientists and Ms Sheinbaum studied physics before going on to receive a doctorate in energy engineering.
She spent years at a renowned research lab in California, the United States, studying Mexican energy consumption patterns and became an expert on climate change.
That experience and her student activism eventually earned her the position of secretary of the environment for Mexico City at the time Andrés Manuel López Obrador was mayor of the capital.
In 2018, she became the first female mayor of Mexico City, a post she held until 2023, when she stepped down to run for president.
