Voters in Mexico have just elected their first ever female president in the form of left-wing populist Claudia Sheinbaum.

Yet while Sheinbaum and her supporters now have reason to celebrate, many other candidates weren't so lucky, with dozens of them being fatally shot in assassinations. 

Mexico sets violent new record set with 38 political murders in 2024

That's according to the Daily Star, which pointed out how some 38 political killings made 2024 Mexico's bloodiest election year on record, surpassing the previous record set in 2021.

The most recent slaying took place this past Friday when Jorge Huerta Cabrera was gunned down at a political rally in Izucar de Matamoros where he was running for a council seat.

The local candidate was not the only victim, as his wife and a colleague were also struck by bullets, although both ultimately survived.

However, widespread homicide wasn't Mexico's only election-related tragedy as nine people died last month when a stage collapsed due to high winds during a rally for long-shot presidential candidate Jorge Álvarez Máynez.

Dramatic footage showed candidate leaping to safety as platform fell

Fox News reported that Máynez was quickly released after being taken to hospital, with dramatic video footage showing him escaping the platform just before it fell.

Here's another angle on the stage collapse in Mexico tonight.

At least 4 are dead.

Mexican presidential candidate escapes at the last second.pic.twitter.com/q9fo3W7iUx

— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) May 23, 2024

"First I saw the musicians' drums, from the group that was going to play, were going to get blown away," the BBC quoted Máynez as saying.

"When the others noticed, they ran in different directions; some jumped to the sides and I jumped back," the candidate went on to recall.

President Joe Biden congratulates Sheinbaum on her " historic election"

Meanwhile, Fox News reported that Sheinbaum addressed supporters at a hotel in Mexico City on Sunday evening following her victory.

"I will become the first woman president of Mexico," she declared. "I don't make it alone. We've all made it, with our heroines who gave us our homeland, with our mothers, our daughters and our granddaughters."

For his part, President Joe Biden released a statement congratulating "Claudia Sheinbaum on her historic election as the first woman President of Mexico."

"I also congratulate the Mexican people for conducting a nationwide successful democratic electoral process involving races for more than 20,000 positions at the local, state, and federal levels," he continued.