In the style of Lula, Obrador has an undeniable victory and even surpasses expectations.
Mexico's Electoral Institute reported that leftist candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador won the country's presidential election by a wide margin, estimating that he received more than half the votes; Obrador garnered between 53% and 53,8% of the vote, while second-place finisher Ricardo Anaya is expected to receive 22,1%.
247 The Mexican Electoral Institute reported that leftist candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador won the country's presidential election by a wide margin, estimating that he received more than half the votes. Obrador has between 53% and 53,8% of the vote, while the second-place candidate, Ricardo Anaya, is expected to receive 22,1%.
"A 'quick count' based on results from about 8 polling places, or 5% of the total voting booths, showed that Obrador has between 53% and 53,8% of the vote, according to the institute. The method has a margin of error of half a percentage point. The president of the institute, Lorenzo Córdoba, said that voter turnout is estimated at between 62,9% and 63,8% of the more than 89 million registered voters."
Ricardo Anaya, from a coalition between the conservative National Action Party and the center-left Party of the Democratic Revolution, is expected to receive between 22,1% and 22,8% of the vote, while José Antonio Meade, supported by the current government, is expected to receive between 15,7% and 16,3%. Independent candidate Jaime Rodriguez is expected to have received between 5,3% and 5,5% of the vote, according to the institute's calculations. The margin estimated by the institute is even higher than that indicated by exit polls, which ranged between 43% and 48%. Opinion polls also suggested that Obrador's Morena party will win a simple majority in the lower house of Congress.
Reuters predicts a new era for the country and "apprehensive investors":
"Andrés Manuel López Obrador won Mexico's presidential election on Sunday, paving the way for the most left-leaning government in the country's democratic history at a time of strained relations with the United States government."
The former mayor of Mexico City won by the largest margin in a presidential election in the country since the 1980s, according to a poll that showed him receiving more than half the vote—about 30 percentage points more than his closest opponent.
By pledging to eradicate corruption and crack down on drug cartels with a less aggressive approach, López Obrador takes power with high expectations, and his efforts to reduce inequality will be closely watched by apprehensive investors.
The opponents Ricardo Anaya, former leader of the center-right National Action Party (PAN), and the candidate of the then-governing Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), José Antonio Meade, conceded defeat minutes after the exit polls.