Global Election Update: Colombia

Colombia

On March 8, Colombia held congressional elections to elect 102 Senators and 182 Deputies for the 2026–2030 term. The election showed significant turnover in Congress, with most members in both Chambers being new legislators, while traditional parties were the primary losers. In the new Congress, the left-wing Pacto Histórico (President Gustavo Petro’s party) will be the largest bloc with 25 senators and 37 deputies. In second place, the right-wing Centro Democrático secured 17 seats in the Senate and 28 in the lower chamber, falling short of the party’s expectations due to fragmentation of the right. The new Congress will be inaugurated on July 20, 2026.

On the same day as congressional elections, Colombia held the inter-party presidential primaries, which usually serve as a test of voter party preferences ahead of the presidential race. Voters were allowed to elect the candidates from three main party coalitions for the presidential election. As a result of this consultation process, candidate Paloma Valencia declared a landslide victory over the other 8 candidates of the center-right coalition Gran Consulta, securing 45% of the coalition’s votes. Meanwhile, in the center-left coalition Consulta de las Soluciones, candidate Claudia Lopez emerged as the winner, while Roy Barreras will run for the left-wing Frente por la Vida coalition. Other candidates have entered the presidential race outside the consultation process, including Iván Cepeda (aligned with the left-wing ruling coalition), Sergio Fajardo (center), and Abelardo de la Espriella (right-wing).

Overall, congressional elections resulted in greater representation of the ruling Pacto Histórico, while also revealing a declining support for traditional parties. The inter-party primaries also showed strong support for the center-right coalition Gran Consulta, which received 5.8 million of the 7 million votes cast. This is about 84% of the total compared to the 8.7% and 8.4% obtained by the two left-wing coalitions. Following the March 8 primaries and the March 13 deadline for registering independent candidates, voters now have the official list of candidates for the presidential race scheduled for May 31, with a runoff on June 21.