Female candidates in Mexico’s July election secured roughly 49.2 percent of the Senate and 47.8 percent of the lower house of Congress, signaling a potential shift in political landscape following the election of leftist President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
The election results now make Mexico’s Senate a high legislative branch with the second-largest female representation in the world, behind Belgium, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Mexico’s lower house of Congress now also has the fourth-highest percentage of female representatives. Additionally, a female, Claudia Sheinbaum, won the largely politically influential position of mayor of Mexico City.
These numbers contrast those of the U.S., where the Senate is 23 percent female and the House is 19.3 percent female.
The increase in female representation could in part be bolstered by the election of progressive Lopez Obrador, who campaigned on revamping Mexico’s government through a series of measures including slashing wages of senators, fighting drug violence, ridding the system of corruption and other positions that appealed to women.
Lopez Obrador announced his cabinet members, rather unusually, back in December. The 16-member cabinet consists of a balanced eight men and eight women. (RELATED: Lopez Obrador Proposes Border Force To Contain Illegal Immigration Into Mexico)
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