Former Bogotá Mayor Claudia López was chosen as the presidential candidate for the 'Consultation of the solutions: health, security and education', a centrist coalition. With 88% of the tables reporting, López, from the Imparables movement, obtained 501,344 votes, compared to 38,265 for her only rival, Leonardo Huerta, who participated mainly to allow the consultation to take place. 'Consultations are a mechanism for democratic participation so that citizens can decide who will lead their sector,' the statement said. Colombia's political landscape became clearer this Sunday after the country's main ideological currents—left, right, and center—defined their cards for the upcoming presidential elections on May 31, a day marked by internal consultations and legislative elections. Left-wing Senator and presidential candidate for the ruling Historical Pact, Iván Cepeda, celebrated his party's victory in the Senate elections. Projections indicate that the ruling party will reach 24 seats in the Senate for the 2026-2030 period, four more than in 2022. The right chooses Paloma Valencia. In parallel, the opposition held 'The great consultation for Colombia', in which Senator Paloma Valencia, from the Democratic Center, won overwhelmingly and will be the right's presidential candidate. The senator and presidential candidate for the uribist Democratic Center party, Paloma Valencia, speaks after winning 'The great consultation for Colombia' this Sunday, in Bogotá (Colombia). She was previously a senator for the Green Alliance and has been distinguished for her investigations into the links between paramilitaries and politicians in Colombia, complaints that even forced her to leave the country temporarily in 2013 after receiving threats. Race for the Presidency. The Colombian presidential elections will be held on May 31, and if no candidate obtains more than half of the valid votes, the two most voted will face a second round on June 21. With the results of this Sunday, the presidential race is outlined with Iván Cepeda for the left, Paloma Valencia for the right, and Claudia López as the center figure, along with other aspirants such as Abelardo de la Espriella and Sergio Fajardo. López, who assured that from now on the presidential campaign begins in full. López, 55, was mayor of Bogotá between 2020 and 2023, a period marked by the pandemic. Leonardo and I proposed to Colombia to focus on solutions,' expressed former Bogotá Mayor Claudia López (r) speaks alongside her contender Leonardo Huertas this Sunday, in Bogotá (Colombia). With 91.6% of the tables reporting, that political group is positioned as the most voted force in the high chamber. 'Today our second time begins; with a strong and committed bench we will begin a new stage of transformations,' affirmed Cepeda. According to preliminary results, the Historical Pact, the party of President Gustavo Petro, leads the Senate vote with 4,044,058 votes, followed by the opposition Democratic Center, of former president Álvaro Uribe, which obtains 2,775,171. Valencia, with 95% of the tables reporting, obtained 3,078,528 votes (55.2%), surpassing by more than 1.8 million votes the independent Juan Daniel Oviedo, who achieved 1,199,145 votes (21.5%). After her victory, Valencia assured that the mandate of the consultation demonstrates that the country does not want 'a country sunk in class hatred or in destructive statism' and promised to work for an 'inclusive Colombia' with better wages and opportunities. The center political also defined its candidacy.
