Preliminary vote counts show that the two leading candidates in Colombia's presidential election—Abelardo de la Espriella, representing the far right, and Ivan Cepeda, a leftist senator—will advance to a decisive runoff on June 21.
As of Sunday afternoon, with 99% of ballots counted, de la Espriella led with 43% of the vote, closely followed by Cepeda at 40%, separated by more than 600,000 votes. Neither crossed the 50% threshold needed to avoid a direct face-off. The outcome is expected to boost de la Espriella's campaign momentum heading into the final round.
Before election day, Cepeda consistently led in opinion polls. A survey by the National Consulting Center (CNC) on May 24 gave him over 33% support, ahead of de la Espriella's 30.9%. However, security concerns emerged as the top issue for voters in this election.
De la Espriella, who has never held elected office, capitalized on crime fears by running as an independent candidate, mirroring the style of Argentine President Javier Milei and the tough-on-crime stance of El Salvador's leader, Nayib Bukele.
In contrast, Cepeda is a familiar figure in Colombian politics. His father was a senator and leader of the Colombian Communist Party before being assassinated in 1994, an act widely attributed to political violence. Cepeda himself has served as a senator since 2014 and previously represented Bogotá in the lower house. His career has been marked by a protracted legal battle with former right-wing President Álvaro Uribe, whom Cepeda accused of ties to far-right paramilitary groups. Uribe originally sued Cepeda for defamation, but the Supreme Court dismissed the case and instead investigated Uribe for witness tampering.
