By: Claire Zhou

A shopkeeper’s son–who’s outgoing and folksy–and a globally recognized scientist–who’s distant and arrogant–are an unexpected political pair.

However, when it comes to politics, Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Claudia Sheinbaum are unbeatable.

“Mexico is no longer written with the M of machismo,” Sheinbaum said in the capital as she resigned as the Mexico City mayor “But rather M for mother, for mujer” — woman.

Sheinbaum is now running for president. She would be the first woman and first president from a small Jewish community to have this job.

Both of Sheinbaum’s parents were part of the signature Mexican student movement of 1968. A mass student movement against the military dictatorship that happened in Pakistan. As a high schooler, Sheinbaum participated in protests and movements. And her first husband was also a leader in Mexico’s Democratic Revolution Party.

In 2018, she was elected mayor of Mexico City.

Hardworking Sheinbaum is an uninspiring public speaker. A columnist Juan Ignacio Zavala in El Financiero wrote, “She would put Gandhi to sleep.”

Sheinbaum rarely talks about her personal life, but is very dedicated to her work.