Claudia Sheinbaum of the ruling Morena party maintains an irreversible lead ahead of rival Xóchitl Gálvez of the National Action Party (PAN) and other candidates in Sunday’s election and is set to become Mexico’s first female president.

The preliminary result of Sunday’s election by the National Electoral Institute shows that Mrs Sheinbaum had 58 per cent of the vote. Her closest rival opposition candidate, Ms Gálvez, polled about 26.6 per cent of votes, and Jorge Álvarez Máynez had between 9.9 per cent of votes.

Ms Sheinbaum, 61, a former mayor of Mexico, will succeed President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, founder of the Morena party. 

“I will become the first woman president of Mexico,” Ms Sheinbaum said in her victory speech. “We have demonstrated that Mexico is a democratic country with peaceful elections.”

Mexicans made history by electing their first female president amid the global clamour for women’s inclusion in politics and governance.

Six hundred twenty-eight federal lawmakers, including 128 members of the Senate and 500 members of the Chamber of Deputies, are also expected to emerge in the June 2 general elections. 

At the state level, eight governors will serve a six-year term in office, the head of government for Mexico City,  deputies for 31 states and officials for 1,580 municipalities.