Who Is Claudia Sheinbaum? Mexico’s President Explained — Her Path, Her Policies and What to Watch
GUIDES · PEOPLE
Key Facts
- —Who she is Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, born 24 June 1962 in Mexico City, is Mexico’s first female president. She took office on 1 October 2024 after winning about 59.7 percent of the vote.
- —Background A physicist with a doctorate in energy engineering, she contributed to the UN climate panel (IPCC) report that shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, and governed Mexico City from 2018 to 2023.
- —Party She governs for Morena, the movement founded by her mentor and predecessor Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), with large majorities in both chambers of Congress.
- —Approval Polls around her second government report in September 2026 put her approval between roughly 59 and 69 percent — the highest of any major Latin American president.
- —Security Intentional homicides have fallen by about a third under her government, and a February 2026 military operation killed cartel leader “El Mencho”, triggering retaliatory blockades but also a poll bump.
- —Signature reforms The world’s first popular election of all federal judges (June 2025), double-digit minimum-wage increases, and the “Plan México” industrial strategy to capture nearshoring investment.
Claudia Sheinbaum governs Latin America’s second-largest economy with a scientist’s discipline and a movement she did not create. Handpicked by AMLO to continue his “Fourth Transformation”, she has turned out to be neither his copy nor his puppet — more technocratic, more cautious with money, and more methodical on security. Two years into her six-year term, she is the most popular president in the region, and the decisions she makes on energy, the judiciary and the US relationship will shape Mexico well beyond 2030.
This profile explains who she is, how she governs, where the numbers stand, and what foreigners living in or watching Mexico should keep an eye on.
From physics labs to City Hall
Sheinbaum was born in Mexico City in 1962 to a family of scientists of Jewish-European descent. She studied physics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and earned a doctorate in energy engineering, working on energy use in buildings and transport. As a researcher she contributed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s fourth assessment report, the work for which the IPCC shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
Her political career began in 2000 as Mexico City’s environment secretary under then-mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador — the start of a quarter-century partnership. She later served as mayor of the Tlalpan borough and, in 2018, was elected head of government of Mexico City, the first woman to win that post. Her tenure mixed popular programs (cable-car lines, free internet, school scholarships) with crises, above all the 2021 metro overpass collapse that killed 26 people and remains a point of attack for her critics.
In June 2024 she won the presidency with about 59.7 percent of the vote, the highest share since Mexico’s democratic transition, defeating Xóchitl Gálvez and Jorge Álvarez Máynez. She took office on 1 October 2024.
How she governs
Sheinbaum’s style is the opposite of AMLO’s improvisation: spreadsheets, weekly security-cabinet meetings, and careful fiscal management. She kept his social programs — pensions for the elderly, apprenticeships for young people, scholarships — and added her own, including support payments for women aged 60 to 64. The minimum wage rose 12 percent in 2025 and another 13 percent in January 2026, continuing the biggest real-terms wage recovery in decades.
On the economy she has been more orthodox than her mentor. The peso has been strong, unemployment is among the lowest in the OECD, and the Bank of Mexico has been cutting rates cautiously as inflation stays near target. Her “Plan México”, launched in early 2025, offers tax incentives and fast-tracked permits to pull Asian and US supply chains into Mexican industrial parks — her bet to convert nearshoring from a slogan into factories.
Security: the data-driven turn
Sheinbaum replaced AMLO’s “hugs, not bullets” rhetoric with a more classical strategy: a national intelligence fusion, a strengthened National Guard, and targeted operations against cartel leadership. Official figures show intentional homicides down by about a third since she took office — roughly 32 fewer killings per day.
The emblematic moment came in February 2026, when a military operation killed Nemesio Oseguera, “El Mencho”, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Mexico’s most powerful criminal organization. The cartel answered with roadblocks and attacks across several states, but polls show the operation lifted her approval, and Washington praised the cooperation. Security remains her weakest poll issue, especially in states like Guanajuato, Sinaloa and Michoacán, and the disappearance crisis — more than 100,000 people missing — is unresolved.
The judicial experiment and the state companies
Two inherited projects define her institutional legacy. The first is the judicial reform: in June 2025 Mexico became the first country in the world to elect all its federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, by popular vote. Supporters call it democratization of a corrupt bench; critics — including most constitutional scholars and the US and Canadian governments — warn it politicizes justice and scares investors who depend on neutral courts.
The second is energy. Sheinbaum, the climate scientist, defends the state oil company Pemex and the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) while pushing renewables harder than AMLO did. Pemex remains the world’s most indebted oil company, and keeping it afloat costs the budget dearly; her solution has been new financing schemes, a cap on fuel prices, and a slow opening to private partners under state control.
The Trump factor
Mexico’s biggest variable sits north of the border. Sheinbaum has handled Donald Trump with a mix of public calm and private concessions: National Guard deployments against fentanyl labs and migration, extraditions of cartel figures, and acceptance of tightened asylum rules. In exchange she has kept most of Mexico’s exports inside the USMCA tariff shelter. The formal USMCA review, due in 2026, is the single most important economic event of her term; a breakdown would hit the nearshoring model at its core.
What to watch
Four things. The USMCA review: any move by Washington to attach new conditions on labor, energy or China would force hard choices. The post-El Mencho cartel map: whether the CJNG fragments into local wars or holds together under new leadership. Pemex’s finances: watch for another support package and what it costs in cuts elsewhere. And the 2027 midterm elections, the first real electoral test of her own, as opposed to AMLO’s, political machine.
What this means for foreigners
For expats and investors, Sheinbaum’s Mexico is stable, predictable and still comparatively cheap: a strong peso, functioning institutions in the big cities, and a government that actively courts foreign capital. The caveats are equally clear: contract enforcement now runs through elected judges whose independence is untested; security varies enormously by state; and the rules of the game with the United States can change with a single announcement from Washington. Mexico City, Mérida and Querétaro remain the magnets for foreign residents, with rents rising fastest exactly there.
Connected Coverage
For the full country picture — economy, regions, costs and the questions outsiders ask most — read our Mexico Explained 2026 guide. For the trade angle, follow our coverage of the USMCA 2026 review and of Mexico’s nearshoring boom.
What Is Not Known
Three open questions matter most. Whether the elected judiciary will actually rule against the government when it counts — the first big cases are still ahead. Whether the homicide decline reflects lasting institutional capacity or a temporary cartel equilibrium that could shatter after El Mencho’s death. And how much room Sheinbaum truly has from AMLO, who remains Morena’s moral leader and whose shadow lengthens as the 2030 succession approaches.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Claudia Sheinbaum?
Claudia Sheinbaum is the president of Mexico and the first woman to hold the office. A physicist with a doctorate in energy engineering, she governed Mexico City from 2018 to 2023 and won the presidency in June 2024 with about 59.7 percent of the vote for the ruling Morena party.
How popular is Sheinbaum?
Very. Polls published around her second government report in September 2026 show approval between roughly 59 and 69 percent, depending on the pollster — the highest rating of any major Latin American president at that time.
What is Plan México?
Plan México is Sheinbaum’s industrial strategy, launched in early 2025, to attract companies moving supply chains out of Asia. It offers tax incentives, faster permits and infrastructure investment in industrial corridors, and is the centerpiece of her bet on nearshoring.
Did Mexico really elect its judges?
Yes. In June 2025 Mexico held the world’s first popular election of all federal judges, including Supreme Court justices. The reform, driven by AMLO and implemented under Sheinbaum, is praised by supporters as democratization and criticized by legal scholars as a threat to judicial independence.
Is Mexico safer under Sheinbaum?
By the official statistics, yes: intentional homicides have fallen by about a third since she took office, and the February 2026 operation that killed cartel leader “El Mencho” was the biggest blow to organized crime in years. Security still varies sharply by state, and more than 100,000 people remain missing.
What is Sheinbaum’s relationship with Donald Trump?
Pragmatic. She has answered US pressure with National Guard deployments against fentanyl production and migration and with cartel extraditions, while publicly defending Mexican sovereignty. The arrangement has so far shielded most Mexican exports under the USMCA, whose formal review in 2026 is the key test ahead.
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