Sheinbaum set to be Mexico's first female president, exit polls show
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The news: Claudia Sheinbaum is set to become Mexico's first female president, as exit polls point to a landslide victory for the left-wing Morena party.
The numbers: At least five exit polls showed Sheinbaum winning the presidency, with pollster Parametria forecasting a landslide 56% of the vote, Reuters reported. Provisional results show Sheinbaum leading with 59% of the vote, versus 29% for Galvez, with 5% of total votes counted at 3:00pm AEST.
Mexico's largest-ever elections — with roughly 100 million registered to vote — have been marred by violence, with 37 candidates assassinated before Sunday's vote. There have also been an estimated 828 non-lethal attacks on candidates during the election season, up from 749 in the week since last Monday.
The first exit polls pointing to Sheinbaum's victory helped the Mexican peso gain 0.55% against the US dollar, before reducing to 0.4%, Bloomberg reported.
The context: Head of the ruling Morena party Mario Delgado told supporters in Mexico City that Sheinbaum had won by a "very large" margin. However, her main competitor Xochitl Galvez has not conceded and told her supporters to wait for the official results.
Throughout the election campaign, Sheinbaum has led in opinion polls over Galvez, who represents a coalition of opposition parties. The former Mexico City mayor and Morena party candidate is poised to replace outgoing president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has led the country since 2018, on 1 October.
Sheinbaum is seen to have benefited from Lopez Obrador's popularity in Mexico, but will inherit a widespread criminal violence crisis, a large fiscal deficit and low economic growth.
