Policy Backgrounders

Mexico’s Election

June 06, 2024

Trusted Insights for What’s Ahead™

In a sweeping victory for Mexico’s incumbent left-wing Morena party, on June 2 Claudia Sheinbaum was elected as Mexico’s first female president (she will take office October 1). Sheinbaum, who is also the first person from a Jewish background to lead the largely Catholic country, is expected to continue in many respects the direction of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. An acclaimed scientist and champion of renewable energy, Sheinbaum is expected to stray from her predecessor in adopting a more pro-market approach and clean energy focus to Mexican energy policy, in part to make Mexico a more attractive destination for foreign investment, as well as seek to boost relations with the US.

• The Morena party also locked in a two-thirds majority in the lower house of Congress and fell just a few seats short of a two-thirds majority in the Senate. López Obrador will serve alongside the newly elected lawmakers in September for his final month in office, during which he is expected to attempt to pass a series of sweeping constitutional reforms.
• Markets reacted on Monday to the strong results with the peso falling over 4 percent to 17.72 against the dollar, its weakest level since November. The stock market’s benchmark IPC index dropped 6 percent, its biggest decline since March 2020.
• Mexico was the US’ top trading partner in 2023, with total two-way goods trade at $799 billion.
• Mexico’s largest election was plagued by violence, with more than 20 political killings since September; some groups put this number closer to 34.