Get to know Mexico's new president-elect Sheinbaum

Meet Claudia Sheinbaum, the new president of Mexico

What you probably already know: Mexico on Monday elected its first-ever woman as president. Claudia Sheinbaum, the former mayor of Mexico City, won in a landslide. In addition to being the first woman, Sheinbaum is the first Jewish person to be elected to the country’s top job. She is 61 years old and has a background as a climate scientist. She won with at least 58.3% of the vote, with her next closest competitor, Xóchitl Gálvez, achieving only 26.6%.

Why? What was particularly nice to see was that most of the people commenting about voting for or against her were commenting about her policies, not her gender. Sheinbaum is a leftist and vowed to continue the policies of Mexico’s current president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who is quite charismatic and has been very popular. He was not able to run again due to term limits.

What it means: Sheinbaum comes in to continue the legacy started by her predecessor, who doubled the minimum wage and drastically improved the country’s economy. He has also been criticized for being lax on cartel violence. In the run-up to the election, gang violence spiked and several campaign rallies were targeted. At least 36 people who were running for local or state elections were killed in this election cycle alone.

What happens now? Sheinbaum has a Ph.D in energy engineering and was part of a panel of climate scientists who were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work. The Mexican economy is stronger than ever, thanks to a strong trading partnership with the U.S., but the country’s federal deficit is getting out of hand. Sheinbaum also must face increasing pressure to crack down on the fentanyl trade, which is no small challenge in a country where cartel violence can decide elections.