Media outlets are reporting that Mexico is on the verge of a major political change as a result of today's presidential election.

Former Mexico City mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador, 64, looks like he's on his way to a landslide victory in a country that's endured serious economic problems along with a violent drug war.

According to the Guardian, there have been more than 13,000 homicides in 2018. The Independent has reported that 130 candidates and political workers have been murdered since September.

López Obrador, often referred to simply as Amlo, is a left-wing populist who's promised to slash the wages of highly paid bureaucrats and stamp out corruption.

Reportedly a friend of British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, López Obrador lost the last two presidential campaigns.

In 2006, the margin of victory was 0.58 percent, prompting widespread allegations of fraud against the right-wing National Action Party, which was headed at the time by Felipe Calderón

In the recent campaign, López Obrador has called for greater financial assistance for students, universal access to postsecondary education, and amnesty for some people convicted of drug offences.

He also wants to delay renegotiation of NAFTA and he's supported the idea of holding referenda to address divisive issues, such as allowing private investment in the state-owned oil and gas industry.

The incumbent, Enrique Peña Nieto, was not permitted to seek reelection under Mexico's constitution, which allows a single six-year term. His Institutional Revolutionary Party is represented by his finance minister, Jose Antonio Meade.

A third candidate is lawyer Ricardo Anaya Cortés, heads the National Action Party.

Mexico has a population of 130 million, making it the second most populated country in Latin America and the 11th most populated country in the world. It also has the largest Spanish-speaking population of any country.