CNN —

Preliminary results show that Claudia Sheinbaum is likely to be elected as Mexico’s first female president. She is a former mayor of Mexico City and climatologist.

Sheinbaum won between 58.3% to 60.7% according to the Quick Count exercise, which is carried out by the National Electoral Institute based on a sample of statistical ballots taken from polling booths.

The 61 year old rode on the popularity wave created by her political ally and long-time ally, outgoing Mexican leftist President Andres Manual Lopez Obrador. They also have a Morena Party.

Sheinbaum is not only set to become Mexico’s very first woman president, but also the first leader with Jewish ancestry. She has been governing as a leftist secularist and rarely talks about her background.

Xochitl Gallvez, backed up by a coalition consisting of National Action (PAN), Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) & Democratic Revolution (PRD), is the opposition candidate who trails Sheinbaum with between 26,6% and 28,6% of votes. The third-placed candidate is Jorge Alvarez Maynez of the Citizens’ Movement, who received between 9.9% to 10.8% votes.

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According to quick-count results, between 58.9% – 61.7% (or nearly 100 million) people voted in the presidential elections.

Sheinbaum’s predicted win is a momentous occasion for a nation that is a leader in the world when it comes gender equality, which it cemented with its 2019 constitutional reform. It is ahead of many countries when it comes to women’s parliamentary representation. Mexico is still a dangerous country for women: it has high femicide levels, with about 10 women killed every day.

Sheinbaum was the mayor of Mexico’s largest city for five consecutive years, until she resigned in June last year to run for president. Sheinbaum is the co-author a Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report that won a Nobel Prize. She is married to Jesus Maria Tarriba Unger.

She is seen by many as the continuation of Lopez Obrador’s social welfare programs, which boosted the popularity of the Morena Party and improved the lives of Mexicans in poverty.

Sheinbaum pledged to carry on the policies of her predecessor, including a pension program for seniors, scholarships for over 12 million students, and free fertilizers provided for small farmers. She rejected criticisms about her close alignment with Lopez Obrador.

Voters were most concerned about the violence that has ravaged the country in recent years, with dozens of candidates and applicants for political office being killed, while cartels have expanded their control throughout Mexico.

While the murder rate in Mexico fell between 2019 and 2020, the absolute number of homicides in the country still remains at historically high levels. Around 30,000 per year. Experts say the true number of homicides is higher.

Sheinbaum has been coy about her security proposals but has pointed to her record as Mexico City mayor, when according to her team she improved the police force’s working conditions and intelligence-gathering abilities.

According to the think tank MexicoEvalua, her biggest challenge will be to convince voters that she can stop the culture of impunity, which is prevalent in Mexico. Around 95% all crimes in Mexico went unsolved by 2022.

The election on Sunday is the biggest in the history of the country. Over 98 million Mexicans have registered to vote, and another 1.4 million are eligible to do so abroad. More than 20,000 positions, including the presidency, are up for grabs by approximately 70,000 candidates who want to be senators, governors and mayors.

The Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Branch of the Federation must receive any challenges to the election process and analyze them. They also have to qualify the election for president by September 6, 2018. Sheinbaum would take office if the court validates the election. Sheinbaum’s term will be six years long, between 2024 and 2030.

The story is developing and will be updated.