2018 Colombian presidential election

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2018 Colombian presidential election

← 2014 27 May 2018 (first round) 17 June 2018 (second round) 2022 →
Turnout	53.40% (first round) 13.30pp 53.11% (second round) 5.14pp
Nominee Iván Duque Gustavo Petro Party Democratic Center Humane Colombia Alliance Great Alliance for Colombia Social Inclusion for Peace Running mate Marta Lucía Ramírez Ángela Robledo Popular vote 10,398,689 8,040,449 Percentage 54.03% 41.77%
First round results by department Second round results by department   Iván Duque   Gustavo Petro   Sergio Fajardo
President before election Juan Manuel Santos Party of the U Elected President Iván Duque Democratic Center

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Presidential elections were held in Colombia on 27 May 2018.^[1] As no candidate received a majority of the vote, the second round of voting was held on 17 June.^[2] Incumbent president Juan Manuel Santos was ineligible to seek a third term. Iván Duque, a senator, defeated Gustavo Petro, former mayor of Bogotá, in the second round. Duque's victory made him one of the youngest individuals elected to the presidency, aged 42. His running mate, Marta Lucía Ramírez, was the first woman elected to the vice presidency in Colombian history.^[3]

The election was held following a peace agreement between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in 2016, ending over 50 years of conflict.^[4] The elections were the first to occur since congress passed legislation in 2015 modifying the presidential term limits, restricting presidents to one four-year term with a formal ban on re-election. The bill also granted the runner-up candidate in a presidential election a seat in the senate, whilst their running mate would become a member of the chamber of representatives.^[5]

Duque, a lawyer and protege of former president Álvaro Uribe, was the nominee for the Democratic Center party. Duque, who was mostly unknown to the public before the election,^[3] had a platform encompassing support for innovation, economic recovery and staunch opposition to the peace agreement.^[5]

Petro, a former AD/M-19 member and nominee for the Humane Colombia party, ran a progressive populist campaign that focused on reducing inequality and implementing universal healthcare and environmental protection. Petro narrowly surpassed centrist candidate Sergio Fajardo in the first round by just over 1%, permitting him to qualify for the run-off.^[6]

Duque was victorious in the second round, earning 54% of the vote to Petro's 41%.^[4] Duque won 24 of Colombia's 32 departments, performed well in the inland regions and received over 77% of the vote in the Andean department of Norte de Santander.^[7] Duque assumed office on 7 August.^[8] Meanwhile, Petro became a senator, and later the future president of Colombia, whilst his running mate, Ángela Robledo, became a member of the chamber of representatives.^[9][10]