BARRIO – Mexico appears to be on track to elect its first woman president next year after its two leading political parties announced female candidates. Claudia Sheinbaum, a former Mexico City mayor who is close to Mexico’s current President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, will represent the ruling left-wing Morena party. She will be challenged by Xóchitl Gálvez, a sitting senator with indigenous roots who has gained the support of many working-class and young Mexicans. Mexican women did not win full voting rights until 1953, thirty-three years after the United States. But Mexico has made significant progress. Currently, it shares a fourth-place ranking with New Zealand for having such a significant level of female representation in parliament. Mexico has also appointed its first female Supreme Court chief justice, among other high-level positions. While the prospect of a female head of state is a historical first for Mexico, many are concerned that this representation will fail to resolve the challenges faced by women, including high levels of femicides and gender-based violence, forced marriages, wage disparity, and under-representation in most boardrooms. Still, Mexican women’s rights activist Maricruz Ocampo said it “is going to signify a turn in the way that we see women in politics.”