Claudia Sheinbaum, One Year Later and 80% Approval

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Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo’s administration began by law on October 1, 2024, after winning the Mexican federal elections of the same year with 59.75% of the votes cast, nominated by the Let’s Keep Making History coalition, succeeding the administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

The days at the National Palace begin before sunrise. At around six in the morning, Claudia Sheinbaum stands at attention before her presidential guard. She greets with the formal military gesture and continues walking through the solemn, high-ceilinged hallways that separate her personal living quarters from the room where she holds her first morning meeting with the Army leadership and her Security Cabinet. She will then move to another of the colonial building’s rooms for her morning press conference, and during the rest of the day, she could manage to squeeze in more than 10 meetings.

Up to this point, everything fits together like a continuation of the marathon rhythms established by Andrés Manuel López Obrador. But the governing style has changed both internally and externally. Mexican politics has entered a new phase with the arrival to power of the first woman in its history. A more restrained and prudent style, but equally tireless and not without examples of firmness during this first year.

Meticulousness is one of the traits most emphasized by those who work in his closest circle. He routinely spends hours analyzing statistical details in GDP projections with the Secretary of Finance or exhaustively following up on the current assignment in his Cabinet.

“How’s it going? Is it done? When?” These are messages they often receive on their cell phones, even before six in the morning, or in person regarding important items on the agenda. From the crisis of violence in Sinaloa due to the internal war between criminal groups, to the corruption scandals shaking the highest echelons of the government and the party, to Donald Trump’s blows in the endless negotiations involving multiple parties: trade, drug trafficking, and migration.

Her “cool-headed” strategy has earned her praise, especially in the turbulent relationship with our northern neighbor, from big business, the opposition, and the international press, which has held her up as an example in the face of the angry reactions of Justin Trudeau in Canada or Gustavo Petro in Colombia to the threats of the Republican tycoon. Sheinbaum, they summarized, would be the antithesis of the arrogant and aggressive leaders who dominate the scene.

A year ago, Sheinbaum swept the polls, with a record number of votes higher than López Obrador, who seized power in 2018 riding the wave of change sweeping a country weary of serious institutional problems, embodied by the return of a PRI devoured by violence and corruption cases. The president closes her first political term with sky-high popularity, hovering around 80%. This support is also broader than that of her predecessor’s first year. The factotum of the Mexican left, and founder of Morena just over a decade ago, has retired from public life by his own choice. A movement that seeks to pave the way for his successor and avoid any rifts, even from the most extreme critics who still consider her little more than a puppet controlled in the shadows by a strongman.

“Continuity with change.” That’s one of the mottos of Sheinbaum’s administration, which is also very attentive to symbols that point to an extension of a very strong political legacy: Obradorism. “They both share very specific values: republican austerity and public exemplarity. But the president’s mannerisms are different. Her style is very cautious, she’s thoughtful, and she almost never flinches,” explains a close source who also held senior positions during the previous administration. “She’s very organized. After all, she’s a scientist, and that helps a lot. She’s not disorganized like most politicians,” he adds.