Comment: Mexico鈥檚 voters set to elect first woman president Published on: 3 June 2024 Writing for The Conversation, Rosario Aguilar discusses the election in Mexico this weekend, and how the country looks set to make history by electing its first woman president. Tens of millions of Mexicans will go to the polls on June 2 to vote in the in history. The election will allow voters to decide more than 20,700 positions at the local and national levels. This election has certainly been one of contrasts. It has become Mexico鈥檚 election season on record, marred by the killing of dozens of candidates. But, at the same time, the country looks its first woman president. The two women leading the contest are Claudia Sheinbaum from the incumbent left-leaning Morena party and X贸chitl 骋谩濒惫别锄, who is the pick of Mexico鈥檚 opposition coalition. The only man in the presidential race, Jorge 脕lvarez M谩ynez, is trailing behind. In a country where gender-based violence is , having two women compete for the executive office is newsworthy. But it is not entirely surprising. Women鈥檚 political participation in Mexico has been on the rise since the passing of a in 2002. The law prohibited political parties from having more than 70% of their electoral candidates from the same gender. The quota system evolved into a constitutional reform in 2019 that required in the executive, legislative and judicial branches. Mexico now has the of female legislators in parliament of any democracy in the world. And more women than men in Mexico鈥檚 last presidential election in 2018. Sheinbaum is in the polls and looks set to beat 骋谩濒惫别锄 to the top position. But the question remains: will Sheinbaum be able to implement her own agenda if she becomes president? The main candidates Sheinbaum, who was born into a well-off family of in Mexico City, began her career in academia. Her transition into politics came in 2000, when she was Mexico City鈥檚 environmental secretary by current president Andr茅s Manuel L贸pez Obrador (who is more commonly known by his initials Amlo) a week after he became the city鈥檚 mayor. She would later become the head of the local government in the Tlalpan district of Mexico City in 2015. Then, in 2018, she was the first woman to be elected as the mayor of Mexico City. Her main rival, 骋谩濒惫别锄, daughter of an indigenous father and a mixed-raced mother, grew up in a of Tepatepec in the state of Hidalgo and moved to Mexico City at the age of 16. She initially worked there as a telephone operator before to study computer engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She became a successful entrepreneur, founding a number of high tech companies. 骋谩濒惫别锄 in 2000 under the government of Vicente Fox, the first president to be elected following the end of the Institutional Revolutionary Party鈥檚 reign after 71 years. She was then elected as mayor of Miguel Hidalgo district in Mexico City, and in 2018 she was elected to the Senate. Over the course of his term, Amlo has been a president, commanding an as high as 64%. His popularity largely stems from his success in rolling out generous social welfare programmes, which have been based on to low-income households. But Mexico鈥檚 electoral law does not allow for a president to be reelected after their six-year term. So Sheinbaum is looking to capitalise on her predecessor鈥檚 popularity and has based her campaign on continuing with the government鈥檚 welfare programmes, rather than proposing more changes. 骋谩濒惫别锄 has also said she will continue the current welfare programmes, understanding the widespread support for them. However, her campaign has been focused on criticising the current president. This could explain why around 40% of people in the say they hold a negative opinion of her. Six years after his election, Andr茅s Manuel L贸pez Obrador leaves office with a 60% approval rating. Whoever wins the election will face serious monetary constraints. The increase in public spending under Amlo鈥檚 administration has from 2% to 6% of GDP. Alongside his social welfare programmes, Amlo has also made some substantial public infrastructure investments. The government is spending vast sums of money on an , a , and an . Analysts that these projects will not bring in enough revenue to justify the amount spent on them, and say they will limit the manoeuvring room of the next administration. The next president will probably need to raise taxes or decrease spending in order to pay the government鈥檚 debt 鈥� a move that will be unpopular among Mexican voters. Sheinbaum has said that she will continue with all of the current government鈥檚 programmes. But that remains to be seen. Academics hope that she will support higher education and international research, which have been placed by Amlo鈥檚 government. And women are hoping that she will take gender-based violence more seriously than Amlo, who has openly . Amlo has also proposed broad constitutional reforms, including an overhaul of the judicial and electoral systems and a programme to militarise Mexico鈥檚 national guard. Sheinbaum has vowed to support the reforms and change the constitution accordingly should her party win the election and a parliamentary majority needed to do so. Rights groups say that the reforms could Mexico鈥檚 democracy and have a . Regardless of who wins on June 2, Mexicans will have elected their first female president. Whether they will have the room to act as they please is much less clear. , Senior Lecturer in Comparative Politics, This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the . 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