Mexico kicks off election campaign

Mexico’s presidential candidates started their campaigns on Friday for elections in June, with the ruling party candidate leading in a race that will likely crown a woman to lead Latin America’s second-largest nation for the first time.
Former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, who is running under a coalition led by current President Andre Manuel Lopez Obrador’s leftist MORENA party, holds a comfortable 20 percentage point lead over former Senator Xochitl Galvez, who represents the opposition coalition.
With the backing of Lopez Obrador, who has consistently polled support of around 60% or more, Sheinbaum has been favored as the next in line for the job.
The 61-year-old scientist is a close ally of Lopez Obrador and has vowed to carry on with the policies that have made him popular, such as combining strong social welfare programs with fiscal discipline that has helped boost the Mexican peso.