Mexico City ( CNN ) -- Mexico 's conservative ruling party has picked a former congresswoman as its nominee for the nation 's top job . If she wins , she would become the country 's first female president . Sunday 's decision by the National Action Party marks the first time one of Mexico 's three major political parties has tapped a woman for the presidential race . `` It opens up the possibility of a very high-profile , close contest , '' said Mireille Roccatti , a professor at Mexico 's Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education . Vazquez Mota , 51 , told CNN en EspaÃ±ol last year that her gender gives her an edge . `` To me , being a woman is a very important competitive advantage in my country ... but not only because there are more ( female ) voters . Because in this country , like in the majority of the world 's countries , we have worked hard , we have made an effort , because nobody has given us anything , '' she said . She has emphasized her desire to be Mexico 's first female president , and pointed to her qualifications for the job . `` I do not want to be president because I am a woman . Being a woman is important , but it 's not the most important . I want to be president because we have the talent and the platform and the vision of a Mexico that we want for all Mexicans , not only for a select few , '' she told CNN en EspaÃ±ol . Before her political career took off , Vazquez Mota studied economics and made a living with self-help lectures and a bestselling book , `` God , Please Make Me a Widow : The Challenge of Being Yourself . '' She was Mexico 's first female secretary of social development when then-President Vicente Fox named her to that Cabinet post in 2000 . In 2006 , she became the nation 's first female education secretary under President Felipe Calderon . She later served as federal congresswoman for two years before stepping aside in September 2011 to focus on her presidential bid . Vazquez Mota told supporters Sunday that she is confident and ready to face off against Enrique Pena Nieto , whose Institutional Revolutionary Party ruled Mexico for seven decades , until 2000 . `` Today the internal strife ends and we will start a new path to defeat the true adversary of Mexico , who represents authoritarianism and the worst of antidemocratic practices , '' Vazquez Mota said . But with a controversial drug war raging and a sluggish economy , the former congresswoman faces a tough political battle leading up to the July 1 presidential election . `` Congratulations and welcome to the democratic contest @ JosefinaVM . Let it be for the good of Mexico , '' Pena Nieto said in a tweet directed at Vazquez Mota after the National Action Party selected her on Sunday . `` Thank you . Let it be for the citizens , '' Vazquez Mota replied . Pena Nieto , the former governor of Mexico 's most populous state , is leading in polls , but he is n't her only opponent . Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador , a former mayor of Mexico City who lost the presidency in a disputed vote in 2006 , is vying for the job once again as a candidate for the leftist Democratic Revolution Party . In a January poll by Mexico 's Consulta Mitofsky , 41 percent of voters backed Pena Nieto , 23 percent supported Vazquez Mota and 18 percent supported Lopez Obrador . But 18 percent of those polled had n't made up their minds . The survey of 1,000 voters had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points . Calderon , who won the presidency in 2006 , has been mired in a controversial war on drug cartels in which more than 47,000 people have been killed since he took office , according to Mexican government statistics . By law , he can not run again . Vazquez Mota said Sunday that she is grateful to Calderon for his leadership . `` With valor and decisiveness he has faced organized crime and has worked tirelessly for the security of our families . ... I am proud of what he has built for Mexico , and the best way to demonstrate my loyalty will be to become the first female president of Mexico on July 1 , '' she said . CNNMexico.com 's Tania Montalvo and Lizbeth Padilla and CNN 's Catherine E. Shoichet , Mario Gonzalez , Rey Rodriguez , Krupskaia Alis and Lucia Navarro contributed to this report .
Josefina Vazquez Mota will compete in the July 1 election . The former governor of Mexico has been a leading candidate for president since she was elected to office in 2006. The former education secretary and congresswoman faces a tough political battle . Mexico 's president has been mired in a controversial war on drug cartels .