MEXICO CITY, June 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Claudia Sheinbaum was set to be elected Mexico’s first woman president on Sunday, exit polls showed, a milestone in a country plagued by rampant criminal and gender-based violence.
The 61-year-old former Mexico City mayor, who was representing the ruling party, won around 58 percent of votes, according to an estimate by the Enkoll polling firm.
That put her comfortably ahead of her main opposition rival Xochitl Galvez — an outspoken senator and businesswoman with Indigenous roots — who had 29 percent.
The only man running, long-shot centrist Jorge Alvarez Maynez, had around 11 percent, Enkoll said.
Other media also declared Sheinbaum the winner without specifying the percentage of votes.
Voters had flocked to polling stations across the Latin American nation, despite sporadic violence in areas terrorized by ultra-violent drug cartels.
Thousands of troops were deployed to protect voters, following a particularly bloody electoral process that has seen more than two dozen aspiring local politicians murdered.
Nearly 100 million people were registered to vote in the world’s most populous Spanish-speaking country, home to 129 million people.
Sheinbaum owes much of her popularity to outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a fellow leftist and mentor who has an approval rating of more than 60 percent but is only allowed to serve one term.
In a nation where politics, crime and corruption are closely entangled, drug cartels went to extreme lengths to ensure that their preferred candidates win.
Hours before polls opened, a local candidate was murdered in a violent western state, authorities said, joining at least 25 other political hopefuls killed this election season, according to official figures.
In the central Mexican state of Puebla, two people died after unknown persons attacked polling stations to steal papers, a local government security source said.
Voting was suspended in two municipalities in the southern state of Chiapas because of violence.
As well as choosing a new president, Mexicans voted for members of Congress, several state governors and myriad local officials — a total of more than 20,000 positions. — NNN-AGENCIES
