Thousands of protesters take to the streets in Mexico City on Monday, a day after the presidential election results were announced. Supporters of the opposition candidate were rallying against Enrique Peña Nieto, who declared victory late Sunday.
(CNN) -- Enrique Peña Nieto, the man election authorities project will be Mexico's next president, was the governor of Mexico's most populous state. His wife is a well-known television star.
Since 1984, the 45-year-old lawyer has been building his political career.
He has been a state official, a local lawmaker and a political adviser to the Institutional Revolutionary Party
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His five-year tenure as the governor of the state of Mexico, which surrounds the capital and has more than 15 million residents, catapulted him into the national spotlight.
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Some analysts said being governor from 2005 to 2011 also garnered him greater attention not only within the ranks of his party but within the national media.
But not all the attention has been positive.
At times, Peña Nieto's personal life has been tabloid fodder.
He has admitted fathering two kids out of wedlock while married to his first wife, Monica Pretelini Saenz, who died in 2007 after suffering a seizure.
In 2010, he married the prominent actress Angelica Rivera, best known for her role as the domineering tequila maker in the soap opera "Destilando Amor," Spanish for "Distilling Love."
At a recent campaign event his convoy was pelted with rocks by students who feel Peña Nieto had been given a free pass by the media.
Weeks before Sunday's vote, criticisms of Peña Nieto and concerns about the PRI's possible return to power fueled a student movement that staged demonstrations throughout the country.
Peña Nieto's campaign has been based on a series of pledges that he said will increase the quality of life for Mexicans nationwide.
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His platform included plans to stop the rise in food prices, promote energy reform, give social security to all Mexicans and reduce violence nationwide.
"I propose changing fear for hope. I propose changing Mexico," he said in a presidential debate this year.
While his proposals for reducing violence have played well in Mexico, they sparked some concerned among Republican lawmakers on the other side of the border, who worry he may not be as committed to combating cartels as his predecessor.
Peña Nieto's campaign has said he remains committed to fighting organized crime.
"The law is applied; it is never negotiated," the campaign said in a statement this month.
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CNN's Miguel Marquez, Mario Gonzalez and CNNMexico.com contributed to this report.
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Peña Nieto, representing the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), speaks during a press conference Monday in Mexico City. He said it was time for his country to leave behind the political rancor of the campaign season.
Members of the "I Am 132" movement protest on Monday. A video that was uploaded to YouTube helped launch the nationwide student movement, adding fuel to the political frenzy.
Projected as the runner-up in Sunday's vote, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrado, right, speaks in Mexico City on Monday. He said he was awaiting the official election results and prepared to contest them before judicial authorities if they didn't turn out in his favor.
A youth activist rallies in Mexico City on Monday. About a third of Mexico's 79.4 million registered voters are between the ages of 18 and 29.
Peña Nieto celebrates with his family after projections declared him the apparent victor in Mexico's presidential election on Sunday, July 1.
Peña Nieto's supporters cheer during the victory speech in Mexico City on Sunday. The results would mean a return to power for a party that ruled Mexico for more than 70 years.
Peña Nieto greets supporters in Mexico City after polls closed and results stacked in his favor early Monday, July 2.
Peña Nieto, whose political party was ousted by the conservative National Action Party in 2000, addresses supporters Sunday.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Peña Nieto's challenger from the Democratic Revolution Party, says he is unwilling to concede in Mexico City on Sunday.
Supporters of Lopez Obrador listen on the streets of Mexico City during his news conference Sunday.
"The last word has yet to be said," Lopez Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor, said Sunday.
Supporters of the Mexican university student movement "I Am 132" protest in front of police outside the national TV network Televisa during a rally against the PRI and Peña Nieto in Mexico City on Saturday.
Protesters supporting the "I Am 132" movement rally outside Televisa headquarters in Mexico City on Saturday.
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