Claudia Sheinbaum will take office as Mexico’s first woman president, and the first person of Jewish descent to hold the post. She is also the first Jewish woman elected head of state anywhere in Latin America. The victory was a landslide. It was also the product of a campaign season unlike any other in the country’s history.
For the first time, most of the serious contenders for the presidency were women. The election was held on June 2, 2024. Voters did not just pick a president. They filled all 500 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and all 128 seats in the Senate. State elections were held the same day. The entire political map of Mexico was up for grabs at once.
The stakes were concrete. A six-year term was on the line. So was the direction of the ruling coalition, Sigamos Haciendo Historia. Sheinbaum, a member of the left-wing Morena party, secured that coalition’s nomination. She was widely regarded as the top contender to succeed President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The question was whether she could hold together the coalition’s base and expand it.
She did. The margin was decisive.
Her main opponent was Xóchitl Gálvez. Gálvez emerged as the frontrunner of the opposition coalition, Fuerza y Corazón por México. Her rise was unusual. She gained popularity largely because López Obrador criticized her. The attacks gave her visibility. They also gave her a narrative. But it was not enough to overcome Sheinbaum’s campaign.
The Citizens’ Movement ran a solo candidate. Jorge Máynez was their nominee. They were the only national party without a coalition. Máynez ran a third-party campaign in a race dominated by two women and two broad alliances. He did not win.
The election was not just a contest of personalities. It was a test of whether the political shifts begun under López Obrador would outlast his term. Sheinbaum represents continuity. She is from the same party. She ran on the same coalition. But she is not the same figure. The question now is what she does with the mandate.
She will enter office with a country that has real problems. Violence persists. The economy is uneven. Migration pressures are constant. The relationship with the United States is never simple. She will also enter office with a historic label. First woman president. First Jewish president. First Jewish woman head of state in the region. Those facts matter. They change what is possible for other women and other minorities in Mexican public life. They also put a target on her back.
The election itself was peaceful. The process was orderly. Voters turned out. They made a choice. That choice was clear. Sheinbaum won by a landslide. The margin was not close. The opposition was not competitive in the end.
What happens next is the real story. The election settled who would hold power. It did not settle what they would do with it. The new president takes office with a legislature she will have to work with. The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate were both elected on the same day. The ruling coalition will have a strong position. But coalitions are not permanent. Power is not static.
Sheinbaum’s victory is historic. That is not in dispute. The question is whether it is also transformative. History will answer that. The election only set the stage.
