Biden congratulates Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum on ‘historic election’

President Biden on Monday congratulated Claudia Sheinbaum for her historic win after she was elected the first female president of Mexico.

“I look forward to working closely with President-elect Sheinbaum in the spirit of partnership and friendship that reflects the enduring bonds between our two countries. I expressed our commitment to advancing the values and interests of both our nations to the benefit of our peoples,” Biden said in a statement.

Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former Mexico City mayor, is the first woman and the first Jewish person to be president of Mexico. She beat the opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez and Jorge Álvarez Máynez to win Sunday.

She will begin her six-year term Oct. 1.

Biden on Monday lauded Mexico for its democratic election, which he called a win as well.

“I also congratulate the Mexican people for conducting a nationwide successful democratic electoral process involving races for more than 20,000 positions at the local, state, and federal levels,” the president said.

Sheinbaum is the hand-picked successor to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. She is a leftist and has spoken against economic inequality and supports government intervention through policies that strengthen the social safety net.

Biden met with López Obrador in November at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in San Francisco. The two leaders also spoke on the phone in April and agreed to implement a plan to reduce border crossings.

Her transition period is likely to be a tumultuous one in U.S.-Mexico relations, as the Biden administration has relied heavily on López Obrador’s heavy handed migration enforcement to depress migrant encounters at the Southwest border.

The Biden administration is set to unveil a new crackdown on asylum on Tuesday, a move timed to come after the Mexican election that would make or break López Obrador’s legacy.

The Biden administration conspicuously avoided any criticism of the electoral process or of democratic backsliding in Mexico, even as the opposition accused López Obrador of putting his thumb on the scale throughout the campaign.

Sheinbaum campaigned on absolute continuity of the popular incumbent’s policies, and is likely to maintain his non-confrontational approach to organized crime, which has freed Mexico’s National Guard to engage in migration enforcement.

A surge in migration before November could seriously jeopardize Biden’s chances of reelection.

But other controversies loom between the two countries, which have the world’s largest bilateral trading relationship.

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade is up for review in 2026, and controversies over Mexico’s energy policies and corn import restrictions are bubbling, with the potential to rise as disputes early in Sheinbaum’s presidency.

She will also have to contend with a troublesome fiscal deficit of nearly 6 percent of GDP, in part a result of López Obrador’s penchant for massive infrastructure pet projects and direct cash transfer social assistance programs.

This story was updated at 12:22 p.m.