MEXICO CITY (AP) — Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico's first female leader in the country's more than 200 years of independence, seized the presidency with a promise of continuity.

The 61-year-old former mayor of Mexico City and lifelong leftist ran a disciplined campaign, capitalizing on her predecessor's popularity, before emerging victorious in Sunday's vote, according to an official snap count. But now that she has her victory in the bag, Mexicans will be eager to see how Sheinbaum, who has a very different personality to her mentor and current President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, will prevail.

Although she is politically closely aligned with López Obrador and shares many of his ideas about the role of government in combating inequality, she is perceived as less combative and more fact-oriented.

Sheinbaum has a scientific background. She has a doctorate in energy engineering. Her brother is a physicist. In an interview with The Associated Press in 2023, Sheinbaum said, “I believe in science.”

Observers say that down-to-earthness was evident in Sheinbaum's actions as mayor during the Covid-19 pandemic, when her city of about 9 million people took a different approach than the one López Obrador took nationally.

While the federal government downplayed the importance of coronavirus testing, Mexico City expanded its testing program. As the virus spread rapidly, Sheinbaum limited business hours and capacity, even as López Obrador sought to avoid measures that could harm the economy. And she publicly wore protective masks and called for social distancing while the president still rushed into crowds.

One of her biggest challenges after she takes office on October 1 will be the persistently high level of violence in Mexico. During the election campaign, she said little more than that she would expand the quasi-military National Guard created by López Obrador and continue his strategy of combating social ills that make many young Mexicans easy targets for recruitment by the cartels.

“To be clear, this does not mean an iron fist, wars or authoritarianism,” Sheinbaum said at her last campaign rally about her approach to fighting criminal gangs. “We will pursue a strategy that addresses the root causes and continue to work toward zero impunity.”

Sheinbaum has praised López Obrador highly and said little that the president has not already said himself. She blamed neoliberal economic policies for the fact that millions of people live in poverty, promised a strong welfare state and praised Mexico's large state-owned oil company Pemex, while also promising to focus on clean energy.

“For me, being on the left is about guaranteeing minimum rights for all citizens,” Sheinbaum told AP last year.

Unlike López Obrador, who seemed to enjoy his public battles with other branches of government and the media, many observers expect Sheinbaum to be less combative or at least more selective in her fights.

“It seems like it's going in a different direction,” said Ivonne Acuña Murillo, a political scientist at the Ibero-American University. “I don't know how much.”

Sheinbaum will also be the first person of Jewish background to lead the predominantly Catholic country.

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