Mexico: Leftist populist Lopez Obrador sweeps to historical presidential win

MEXICO CITY: Anti-establishment leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador swept to victory in Mexico's presidential election Sunday, in a political sea change driven by voters' anger over endemic corruption and brutal violence.

According to exit polls, the sharp-tongued, silver-haired politician known as "AMLO" won by a large margin over his two main rivals, who both conceded defeat shortly after the polls closed -- laying to rest concerns that a deeply divided country could face prolonged uncertainty over the winner.

"I recognize his victory and express my congratulations, and I wish him the greatest of success, for the good of Mexico," said runner-up Ricardo Anaya, who ran for a coalition led by his conservative National Action Party (PAN).

Jose Antonio Meade of the coalition led by the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) said the leftist had "won the majority," adding: "I wish Andres Manuel the greatest of success."

It is a major shift in Mexican politics: the PRI and PAN have governed for nearly a century, and Lopez Obrador will be the country's first leftist president in recent history.

Three polling firms gave the former Mexico City mayor the win. Newspaper El Financiero's exit poll gave him 49 percent of the vote to 27 percent for Anaya and 18 percent for Meade.

Polling firms Mitofsky and the Strategic Communications Cabinet announced broadly similar results.

- Strong day for Morena -
Lopez Obrador, 64, successfully tapped voters' anger over a seemingly never-ending series of corruption scandals and horrific violence that left a record 25,000 murders last year -- an orgy of bloodshed fueled by the country's powerful drug cartels.

Casting his ballot early Sunday at his polling station in Mexico City's Tlalpan district, he called the elections "historic."

"We represent the possibility of real change," he told hundreds of journalists crowded at the entrance, promising a "peaceful transformation" of the country.

Lopez Obrador's coalition -- led by the Morena party he launched in 2014 -- appeared to be on track for a strong showing in state and congressional races as well, winning at least five of the day's nine governor's races, according to exit polls.

The coalition was set to win governorships in the states of Veracruz, Morelos, Chiapas and Tabasco, as well as Mexico City, where a woman was elected for the first time ever, the scientist and environmentalist Claudia Sheinbaum.

Three other states were too close to call, according to Mitofsky.

Lopez Obrador's coalition is also within striking distance of a congressional majority -- a coup for a party contesting its first national elections.

- Three more murders -
In a country awash in violence, the campaign has been the most blood-stained in Mexican history: 145 politicians have been murdered since September, according to consulting firm Etellekt.

Three political party members were shot dead on election day, according to local officials: a Workers' Party (PT) member in the western state of Michoacan, and two members of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in the central state of Puebla.

Most of the murders have been of local politicians, the most frequent targets for drug cartels seeking corrupt officials they can strike alliances with.

This was Lopez Obrador's third bid at the presidency.

Many voters say they are sick of both the PRI and the PAN, the parties that have governed Mexico for nearly a century.

Lopez Obrador calls them both part of the same "mafia of power," a message that resonated with many people -- even if he has been vague on what the change he promises will look like.

- Market jitters -
But Mexicans are deeply divided over the frontrunner.

Lopez Obrador has clashed with Mexico's business community, with some critics warning he would pursue Venezuela-style socialist policies that could wreck Latin America's second-largest economy.

Seeking to soothe, he has recruited a team of market-friendly advisers and backpedaled on his most controversial proposals, including reversing outgoing President Enrique Pena Nieto's landmark energy reform, which privatized the oil sector.

He will face a laundry list of challenges, including a lackluster economy and a thorny relationship with the United States under President Donald Trump, whose anti-trade, anti-immigration policies have turned diplomacy with Mexico's key trading partner into a minefield.

But Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, suggested that the Republican president could find common ground with Lopez Obrador, predicting "some surprising results."

Besides choosing their president for the next six years, Mexico's 88 million voters were electing both houses of Congress, with a total of more than 18,000 federal, state and local posts at stake.