Mexico's Lopez Obrador Wins Presidential Vote as Rivals Concede
By Nacha Cattan and Eric Martin
July 1, 2018, 7:00 AM EDT
Updated on July 1, 2018, 10:08 PM EDT

Even before official results, leftist acknowledged as winner
He’s vowed to end graft and violence; investors are nervous

Mexicans have elected Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as their first left-wing president in decades, according to exit polls that showed him headed for a landslide victory over two business-friendly rivals.

A survey by El Financiero showed Lopez Obrador with 49 percent of the vote. Ricardo Anaya, leader of a right-left coalition, had 27 percent and Jose Antonio Meade, the candidate of the incumbent PRI party, was on 18 percent. Other exit polls after Sunday’s vote projected a similar outcome. Even though no official results are due for more than two hours, the numbers were decisive enough for the leftist’s two main challengers to acknowledge his victory.

“According to the polling trends, it was Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador who won,” said Meade, whose party has governed Mexico for most of the past century. Soon afterwards it was Anaya’s turn to make a televised address to the nation. “I recognize his triumph,” he said, adding that he’d called Lopez Obrador to congratulate him.

Lopez Obrador, who was defeated in the last two presidential votes, has led throughout this campaign. He’s riding a public revolt against entrenched corruption, rampant violence and an economy that’s failed to deliver higher living standards -- especially for the poor, about half of Mexico’s 125 million population.

His strong showing fits with a global trend of anti-establishment politics, from gains by parties of the left and right in Europe to Donald Trump’s presidency in the U.S. There are also regional echoes: Mexico is one of the few countries in Latin America that hasn’t had a leftist government in recent decades.

Lopez Obrador has promised to govern as a pragmatist. Still, his procession toward victory has alarmed many investors and business leaders, who worry that he’ll roll back privatization of the energy industry and push the country into debt by spending more on social programs.

‘Real Change’

Those concerns will be amplified if Lopez Obrador’s Morena party wins majorities in both houses of Congress. Earlier surveys had suggested that was possible, but exit polls were less clear-cut and the congressional results may not be clear for days.

Currency markets have had plenty of time to prepare for an AMLO win, and the peso extended gains after concessions by Meade and Anaya removed the risk of a dispute over the count. It was up 1.2 percent to 19.68 per dollar in overnight trading at 8:55 p.m. in Mexico City.

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