Xochitl Galvez, a controversial senator with Indigenous ancestry who aspires to be Mexico’s first female president, was nominated as the opposition coalition’s candidate for the general election next year on Wednesday.
The likelihood of an all-female presidential race between Galvez and Claudia Sheinbaum, the former mayor of Mexico City and the front-runner to lead the ruling party in June 2024, is increased by her nomination.
After an internal election that was determined by public opinion polls, Galvez, a 60-year-old self-made businesswoman and computer engineer, won the backing of the opposition camp.
“We have made the decision to support the sole candidacy of Xochitl Galvez to head the Broad Front for Mexico,” announced Alejandro Moreno, leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), one of the three parties in the opposition alliance.
Galvez, who was supported by the conservative National Action Party (PAN), defeated Beatriz Paredes of the PRI, another female senator.
Galvez and departing president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a self-described advocate of the downtrodden, have frequently sparred.
She has questioned the security plan of the left-wing populist and declared that “ovaries are needed” to fight organized crime in the violent nation.
Galvez speaks in a casual, honest tone that is laced with expletives. She claims that she sold candy as a young child to support her family.
“Nobody controls me — not even my husband,” she says to underline her independence.
Galvez accused Lopez Obrador of machismo after he branded her the “candidate of the power mafia” — a reference to the opposition.
Lopez Obrador’s frequent attacks on Galvez had a “counterproductive result,” boosting her profile, said analyst Luis Estrada, chief executive of political consultancy firm Spin.
