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MEXICO CITY — Mexican ruling party candidate José Antonio Meade conceded the presidential election on Sunday, saying his rival, leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador, bore the responsibility of the next government and wishing him well.
An exit poll by Parametria showed López Obrador, a former mayor of Mexico City, winning 53 percent to 59 percent of the vote, far ahead of his two main rivals from Mexico's traditional ruling parties.
López Obrador claimed victory early Monday, saying in a speech that "with the U.S., we will seek a relationship of friendship."
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Hundreds of people, meanwhile, took to the capital's Angel of Independence monument cheering, crying and chanting: "It’s an honor. We're with Obrador."
"This is the change we needed," said Mario Alvarez, 40. Referring to López Obrador by his nickname — AMLO, his initials — Alvarez said: "AMLO was the right choice. Mexico is corrupt. It won't be easy, but it's a start."
Emilia Gutierrez, 34, couldn't stop smiling as she rode her bike over to the Monument to the Revolution to sit with fellow supporters.
"It's the first time the country feels happy," she said. "It's about what he represents. So many doors have been closed in Mexico. Now one opens."
A man a short distance away had more specific hopes.
"Today, López Obrador wins the Mexico presidential elections. Tomorrow, Mexico wins the World Cup game" against Brazil, he said.
López Obrador, 64, is expected to move Mexico in a more nationalist direction, potentially exacerbating tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump and unsettling some investors.
He would be the first leftist president in decades in Mexico, and he has pledged to reduce the country's economic dependence on the United States. The current government has sparred with Trump over trade and migration for months.
The first high-level contact between López Obrador and the White House is likely to be a phone call on Monday. Trump tweeted congratulations Sunday night, saying, "There is much to be done that will benefit both the United States and Mexico!"
His victory is a stinging rebuke to outgoing President Enrique Peña Nieto's ruling centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which has governed Mexico for 77 of the past 89 years. Peña Nieto also congratulated López Obrador, saying, "He and his team will have the support of the Mexican government to make an orderly and efficient transition."
While the PRI's big-tent approach to politics defies easy categories, López Obrador has pitched himself as the most left-wing leader in Mexico since Lazaro Cardenas came to power in 1934, distributing land to peasant farmers and nationalizing foreign industry, including oil companies.
Like Cardenas, López Obrador plans to help poor farmers, although he has stressed he will not expropriate private property.
Addressing accusations of authoritarianism, López Obrador told tens of thousands of supporters last week that there would be no dictatorship. He promised to respect the separation of powers, freedom of the press and the independence of the central bank.
Consulta Mitofsky for broadcaster Televisa showed López Obrador, who had maintained a healthy lead in polls ahead of the vote, winning 43 percent to 49 percent of the final vote. Parametria, Mitofsky and others showed him winning by at least 20 percentage points.