Mexico elects its first female president, a leftist climate scientist

Claudia Sheinbaum, a leftist climate scientist, has been elected the first female president in Mexico’s history.

Sheinbaum heralded her victory — and its significance to women - in an acceptance speech early Monday after the country’s election office announced she had an insurmountable lead from Sunday’s vote. 

“I don’t make it alone. We’ve all made it, with our heroines who gave us our homeland, with our mothers, our daughters and our granddaughters,” she said.

The National Electoral Institute said Sheinbaum, a former Mexico City mayor, was projected to win at least 58.3% of the vote, and her Morena party was projected to hold majorities in both chambers of the country’s legislature.

Sheinbaum will start her six-year term Oct. 1, succeeding her mentor, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.