MEXICO CITY (AP) — As she runs to replace outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Claudia Sheinbaum is struggling to construct her own image, leaving many wondering whether she can escape the shadow of the larger-than-life incumbent.

The former Mexico City mayor and frontrunner in the June 2 presidential election has had to unquestioningly adopt the programs of the popular López Obrador as candidate of the Morena party he created and dominates. Parts of her background, however, suggest a different vision for the presidency.

Sheinbaum could turn out to be more of a “leftist” than López Obrador has been if she beats out opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez and Jorge Álvarez Máynez of the small Citizen Movement party on June 2.

She comes from an older, more solidly left tradition that pre-dates López Obrador’s nationalistic, populist movement.