Mexico Elections: Claudia Sheinbaum Maintains Wide Lead Over Xochitl Galvez as Election Day Nears

By Rick Martin May 14 2024, 22:20 PM EDT

As Mexico nears its June 2 election date, a new poll by consulting firm Mitofsky for the newspaper El Economista was released on Tuesday. It showed MORENA candidate Claudia Sheinbaum in a huge lead over her nearest rival, Xochitl Galves, with the election date just three weeks away.

However, Reuters noted that this lead is much narrower than the previous Mitofsky-La Economista poll, though Sheinbaum still has a very comfortable polling lead over Galves. The administration candidate took 49% of the vote in the poll, which was released on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Xochitl Galvez, who represents three different parties, namely the center-right National Action Party (PAN), the centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the center-left Democratic Revolution (PRD), only took 28% of the vote.

Despite this, much like other Mexico election polls, it showed that she is slowly gaining on Sheinbaum's lead. Previously, the Mitofsky-La Economista April poll had Sheinbaum with 51.4% of the vote against Galvez's 26.7%.

Still, this is widely considered as a three-horse race, with Jorge Alvarez Maynez of the center-left Citizens' Movement (MC) also gaining ground against Sheinbaum, taking 10.3% of the vote. This is up from last month's 9.3%. However, these latest gains for Galves and Alvarez may come too late as the election is only three weeks away.

The Mitofsky poll also showed that 12.7% of its respondents said they either would not vote or had not yet decided who they would vote for on June 2. The poll had 1,600 respondents and was conducted from May 3 to 6. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5%.

Mexico's 'Disappeared' Citizens Looming Over Election as Part of AMLO's Legacy

As the June 2 elections draw ever closer, plenty of issues are looming over all candidates, from immigration to how to handle the cartels. One of the biggest issues happening is about the thousands of "disappeared" people.

This is evident during Mother's Day as hundreds of mothers lit candles and showed images of their missing loved ones at the foot of the Mother's Monument, a stone obelisk in the center of Mexico City, according to Al Jazeera News.

"When I read the approved protocol for searching for missing persons, I realized that, in reality, the protocols that had to be done were not done," Joanna Alvear, the mother of one of the "disappeared," told the news outlet. "So I am a mom who has searched for Lilith with her own resources."

Under President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, mentor and ally of election favorite Claudia Sheinbaum, the number of "disappeared" only increased, and the issue has only become a major stain in his administration.

Mexican Citizens in Texas Ready To Vote in the June 2 Mexico Elections

There are plenty of Mexican citizens abroad, especially in the United States. In Texas, which has one of the highest Hispanic populations in the country, Mexican citizens who have registered to vote in the Mexican elections are now preparing themselves for the opportunity to vote for the person to replace AMLO.

"In exercising my vote I am a part of a change in Mexico, even though I am not physically there," Judith Diaz, a Mexican citizen in Texas, told the Texas Tribune. She was originally from Cuernavaca, Mexico, but is now living in Austin as a nanny. She says she will vote for Claudia Sheinbaum.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Mexico presidential debate: Candidates face off ahead of elections in June - Al Jazeera English