MEXICO CITY _ Leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador won a historic victory in Sunday's presidential elections, ushering in a new epoch in Mexican politics that could have profound implications for the country's domestic and international policies _ including Mexico's relationship with the United States, its northern neighbor.
Lopez Obrador clinched a landslide triumph even before any official results were released, his projected margin of victory at about 20 points _ the largest in Mexico's recent electoral history. His competitors conceded shortly after exit polls showing the firebrand populist with a commanding lead.
The now president-elect _ though the results still need to be certified by Mexico's electoral institute _ left his campaign headquarters in the capital's Roma district in a white sedan, which was mobbed by well-wishers and supporters seeking selfies as the car made its way to his campaign headquarters downtown.
It was a stunning and momentous win for a lifelong politician and relentless campaigner who had lost the previous two presidential elections _ and in both instances alleged that he had been denied victory via fraud.
But the third try proved the charm for Lopez Obrador, 64, a shopkeeper's son from the southern state of Tabasco who rode to victory on a wave of voter discontent with rampant corruption, escalating crime and a sluggish economy.
Once his victory is confirmed, Lopez Obrador will be slated to assume the presidency on Dec. 1, succeeding current President Enrique Pena Nieto of the long-dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party, which dominated Mexican politics for much of the 20th century.
Among the first foreign leaders offering congratulatons was U.S. President Donald Trump, who said in a Twitter message that he looked forward to working with Mexico's new president.
"There is much to be done that will benefit both the United States and Mexico!" said Trump, who has consistently singled out Mexico and Mexicans for withering criticism on issues of free trade, drug trafficking and illegal immigration.
As president, Lopez Obrador _ who comes from a fiercely nationalist tradition somewhat diluted in current Mexican politics _ is widely expected to be less deferential to Washington than his predecessors.
Exit polls showed Lopez Obrador ahead by 20 percentage points, a landslide _ and the largest margin in the modern era of Mexican democracy, which began with the 2000 elections.
Shortly after the last polls closed at 8 p.m. in Mexico City, and before any actual results were released, the other candidates began conceding defeat.
"I recognize that the tendencies do not favor me," Jose Antonio Meade, presidential hopeful of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, said in a speech at the party headquarters in Mexico City. "At this moment I will have to recognize that, in accordance with the tendencies, it was Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador who obtained the majority. He will have the responsibility of directing executive power. And for the good of Mexico I wish him the best success."
Ricardo Anaya of the center-right National Action Party soon followed, as did the sole independent candidate, Jaime "El Bronco" Rodriguez.
"I wish him success for the best of Mexico," Anaya said.
Official results were not expected for several hours.
The concession from the PRI candidate came after exit polls from the Televisa network showed Lopez Obrador with a commanding lead of approximately 20 percentage points compared with Anaya, his nearest challenger.
The lead corresponded to pre-election polls that had long showed Lopez Obrador as a runaway winner. The challengers had been unable to chip away at Lopez Obrador's lead, which was largely fueled by voter anger at the status quo of Mexican politics.
According to the Televisa exit polls, Lopez Obrador won between 43 percent and 49 percent of the vote and Anaya garnered between 23 percent and 27 percent.
Meade was in third place, according to the Televisa exit polls, with between 22 percent and 26 percent of the vote.
It appeared to be a humiliating third-place finish for the PRI.
Reaction to the apparent Lopez Obrador victory was swift.
"We have an electoral tsunami," Marco A. Fernandez, an analyst at the Technical Institute of Monterrey, said in a Twitter message. "High electoral participation punished corruption at the ballot (box). The citizens participated and expressed their outrage and anger."
The electoral process unfolded without major disruptions, authorities said, despite scattered acts of violence and some reports of missing ballots.
Election day was proceeding "with tranquillity (and) without major incidents," Lorenzo Cordova, head of Mexico's electoral institute, said in a statement.
In the run-up to the elections, dozens of office-seekers have been slain, mostly candidates for local posts in provincial areas where organized crime holds sway. Police were out in force on Sunday throughout the nation in elections that officials called the largest in the country's history.
Apart from the presidential vote, Mexicans were also electing a new federal legislature, eight state governors, a Mexico City mayor and representatives for thousands of state and municipal posts.
Under sunny skies in Mexico City, early turnout appeared to be robust.
Lopez Obrador ran under the banner of his own political party, the National Regeneration Movement, known as Morena.
The movement was launched four years ago after Lopez Obrador _ a veteran politician and former mayor of Mexico City _ split from the center-left party that he had formerly headed.
His victory could trigger a sea change in Mexican politics and significantly alter Mexico's relations with its giant neighbor, the United States, experts said.
Many observers expect that a Lopez Obrador administration would be less accommodating to Washington _ especially to the Trump administration, which has consistently assailed Mexico and Mexicans _ than past presidents here.
Mexico shares an almost 2,000-mile border with the United States, a source of both tension _ the border is a hub of illegal immigration and drug smuggling _ and of tens of billions of dollars annually in international trade.
Lopez Obrador has championed a leftist, populist agenda that has resonated in a nation where many are fed up with corruption, rising crime and a slumping economy.
He has vowed a grandiose "transformation" of the nation akin to past historical events _ independence from Spain, the 19th century reign of President Benito Juarez, and the Mexican Revolution of the early 20th century.
His rhetoric has targeted "the mafia of power," his depiction of the elite clique of political parties and business interests that have long dominated Mexico. It is an anti-status quo message that has overwhelmed similar vows of "change" from the presidential aspirants from more traditional parties.
Among his promises: increasing social welfare payments to the poor and elderly, providing scholarships to the young and reviewing various projects of the current government, including energy and education reforms and the construction of a new Mexico City airport.
"We are struggling," said Ivan Jaramillo, 36, a tall, tattooed industrial engineer and Lopez Obrador backer who cast his ballot Sunday. "Yet we see how our leaders get richer."
He voted in Coyoacan, a leafy enclave on the south side of Mexico City and the same voting district as Lopez Obrador, who was mobbed by journalists and supporters as he cast his ballot early in the day.
After turning in his ballot, the candidate posed for photos with his wife and young son.
When he and his family tried to make their way to a waiting car, they were swarmed by supporters chanting: "President!" and "It's an honor to be with Obrador."
Two helicopters and several drones circled overhead.
Lopez Obrador's fiery rhetoric has clearly drawn many supporters, but his candidacy has also stoked deep concern among many who view him as a potential autocrat and as an unreconstructed leftist who could wreck an already shaky economy.
In the wealthy Mexico City enclave of Bosques de las Lomas, Veronica Soto, 46, stepped into a waiting Audi sedan after casting her ballot.
Soto, a stay-at-home mom, said she was voting for Anaya largely because she was afraid of a Lopez Obrador presidency _ a fear especially common among upper-class Mexicans.
Lopez Obrador's nationalistic outlook and misgivings about market-oriented reforms are signs "that he wants to turn Mexico into Venezuela," said Soto, echoing a common criticism here.
"He wants to take Mexico backward," she said, "to a situation where the poor won't be rich and the rich won't be rich either."
She said many in this neighborhood of lush haciendas tucked behind high walls were nervous about what will happen to the economy if Lopez Obrador wins.
The front-runner has consistently rejected opposition characterizations of him as Mexico's version of Hugo Chavez _ the late Venezuelan leftist leader and long-time U.S. antagonist. Lopez Obrador has said he favors a new free-trade agreement with the United States and has reassured business interests that he will protect investments.
