As Mexico elects Claudia Sheinbaum, the outgoing leader begins his farewell

Sunday was a historic day in Mexico, with a landslide electoral victory for Claudia Sheinbaum, the first woman and first Jewish person to become president of the country.

But as much as it was about Ms. Sheinbaum, a decorated climate scientist and mayor of Mexico City from 2018 to 2023, it was also about the most powerful man in the country who will soon head for the exit.

The electoral triumph of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's chosen successor marks the beginning of the end of a crucial figure in Mexico.

He emerged from an area of ​​the country where few national politicians hailed him and became president on his third try. He has completely reshaped Mexican politics and built an entire political party around his outsized personality.

Critics also argue that he gave too much power to the military and promoted measures that would undermine democratic institutions, such as the Supreme Court.

Yet as the end of his six-year term approaches, López Obrador remains wildly popular.

After nearly fifty years of public life, Mr. López Obrador, 70, said he will retire “completely” after his last day in office on September 30, although some observers believe he will find a way to continue to exert influence behind the scenes.

He said he wants to spend his days on his family's ranch in the southern state of Chiapas.

For many in the neighboring state of Tabasco, a bastion of support for López Obrador, and in the small town of Tepetétanwhere he was born, Sunday was bittersweet.

Miguel Angel Solis Burelo, 72, said he was thrilled to see Ms. Sheinbaum win because she was “well prepared” to advance Mr. López Obrador’s agenda. He also said it was “a great joy” to see a woman assume the presidency.

But Solis, who rode a speedboat up a river from the ranch where he works to vote in Tepetitán, admitted he felt “a little sad” as López Obrador neared the end of his presidency. Mexico's presidents are limited to six-year terms by the Constitution.

Kenia Sandoval Salvador, 47, a stay-at-home mother, said she watched video highlights of Mr. López Obrador's career on social media before going to the polls on Sunday in Macuspana, a city also in Tabasco where the president grew up.

“I already feel the nostalgia,” he said.

Born in 1953, Mr. López Obrador frequented the only elementary school in Tepetitán and helped in his parents' shop. HEY started middle school about 40 minutes in Macuspana. He finished his studies and attended high school in Villahermosa, the state capital where his family moved. He went to college in Mexico City, where he later served as mayor.

Sunday's election was seen by many as a referendum on López Obrador's leadership, and Ms. Sheinbaum's decisive victory was interpreted as a vote of confidence in the president, his policies and the Morena party.

Antenor Paz Acosta, 75, who works on a ranch in Tepetitán and said he played baseball with the president as a child, made clear that he had the current leader in mind, even as he voted for Ms. Sheinbaum.

“I always support what Andrés Manuel did,” Paz said. “Where he goes, she goes too.”

During López Obrador's tenure, the economy grew, millions of Mexicans rose out of poverty, the minimum wage doubled, pensions were expanded, and worker benefits improved.

But his presidency has also fueled concern. He has been criticized for his “hugs, not bullets” strategy towards criminal cartels which has provoked further violence. His critics also say he has hobbled the national health system and prioritized fossil fuels.

Mr. López Obrador, known by his initials AMLO, will be remembered by many for his morning press conferences, or mañaneras, during which he spent hours almost every day for the past five years sharing his feelings, celebrating his victories, attacking his critics and lashes out at journalists. He may seem proud and popular.

“López Obrador governed through mañaneras,” said Blanca Gómez, a Mexican journalist who wrote an unauthorized biography of Mr. López Obrador in 2005. “He realized that people paid attention when he spoke. People believe him. There are people who will miss his mañaneras. And many people will be happy not to listen to him anymore.”

Although Lázaro Vidal Martínez, 62, a farmer from Tepetitán, usually worked in the mornings, he said he occasionally listened. “I liked that he showed his face every day because other presidents never did that,” he said.

Mr. Solis, the ranch worker who arrived by speedboat to vote, said what he liked most about López Obrador's presidency were his social welfare programs that helped “us who didn't get help or that we were not taken into consideration.”

He said his pension, for those 65 and older, has increased fivefold over the years to about $170 a month.

However, López Obrador should have been tougher on criminal groups, Solis added, although overall he is satisfied with the direction the country has taken.

“We want the movement to continue,” he said, before boarding his boat to return home.

During campaign visits to Tabasco, Ms. Sheinbaum promised to preserve the legacy of Mr. López Obrador, who He drew Greetings from the crowd.

In Tepetitán, a town of 1,500 inhabitants, what was his grandparents' house was inaugurated last year as Obrador House Community Museum and presents his bust on the outside. In Macuspana, a larger city with 31,000 residents, the only reminder is a mural outside the public library.

Not far away, in a bar in the city's main square, sat Márvel Hernández Gutú, 79, a native of Tepetitán, a lawyer and former civil servant who has known López Obrador since their days together in a previous political party. He wished López Obrador had done more for Mexico's development in terms of business and infrastructure, especially in Tabasco, one of the poorest states in the country.

“As for his legacy,” Hernández said, “we can't say that he left us great things because he had the opportunity to do so and he didn't.”

Regardless of their opinions, many said they did not believe that Mr. López Obrador would suddenly disappear after decades of public life and with his protégé in charge.

“His legacy means a lot to him,” journalist Gómez said.

In a small way, it will continue in Tepetitán.

During Mr. López Obrador's successful presidential campaign six years ago, Mr. Vidal, who said his parents knew Mr. López Obrador's parents, allowed a local artist to paint a mural on the side of his house that sits at the entrance to the city. Anyone entering or leaving the community would see it.

It was repainted three times, with new decorations added on each occasion. Surrounding Mr. López Obrador's face are the flora and fauna found throughout Tabasco: howler monkeys, parrots and the alligator gar fish, a local delicacy and a nickname for Mr. López Obrador in Spanish.

The artist of the mural died last year, Mr. Vidal said, and he hopes another artist can help preserve the memory of the city's most famous son.

“That mural will stay,” he said.