2022 Colombian presidential election

2022 Colombian presidential election
← 2018 29 May 2022 (first round)
19 June 2022 (second round)		 2026 →
Opinion polls
Turnout54.98% (first round) Increase0.76pp
58.17% (second round) Increase4.24pp
 
Nominee Gustavo Petro Rodolfo Hernández
Party Humane Colombia Independent
Alliance Historic Pact LIGA
Running mate Francia Márquez Marelen Castillo
Popular vote 11,292,758 10,604,656
Percentage 50.42% 47.35%
President before election

Iván Duque
Democratic Center

Elected President

Gustavo Petro
Humane Colombia

This article is part of a series on the
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Presidential elections were held in Colombia on 29 May 2022, with a runoff on 19 June 2022 as no candidate obtained at least 50% in the first round of voting. Iván Duque, who was elected president in 2018, was ineligible to run due to term limits.[1] Gustavo Petro, a senator, former Mayor of Bogota, and runner-up in the 2018 election, defeated Rodolfo Hernández Suárez, former mayor of Bucaramanga, in the runoff election.[2] Petro's victory made him the first left-wing candidate to be elected president of Colombia,[3][4] and his running mate, Francia Márquez, is the first Afro-Colombian elected to the vice-presidency,[5] as well as the second female vice-president overall.[6]

The elections were held in the aftermath of the 2021 Colombian protests amid poor economic conditions during the country's COVID-19 pandemic.[6] Petro, a former AD/M-19 member who was defeated by Duque by over ten percentage points in 2018,[7] was chosen as a candidate of the Historic Pact for Colombia alliance. Petro's left-wing platform encompassed support for land reform, universal health care, continuing the Colombian peace process, and expanding social services.[5][6]

Hernández, an independent affiliated with the League of Anti-Corruption Governors, ran a populist campaign that emphasized support for law and order policies and anti-corruption efforts.[8][9] Hernández experienced a surge in support in the final weeks of the campaign, which allowed him to overtake conservative candidate Federico Gutiérrez for a spot in the runoff. This surge in popularity was partially credited to his substantial social media following and TikTok videos,[6] which led him to be dubbed the "king of TikTok".[8][10][11]

Petro won the runoff with 50.42% of the vote to Hernández's 47.35%.[12] Petro dominated in regions on Colombia's Caribbean and Pacific coasts,[6][13] and received over 81% of the vote in the coastal department of Chocó.[14] Due to an increased turnout among his supporters, Petro received nearly 2.7 million more votes in the second round than the first.[13][15] The result was noted for a continuing trend of left-wing victories in Latin America,[6] which has been dubbed as a "new pink tide".[9][16][17]

  1. ^ Tejada, Carlos; Turkewitz, Julie (30 August 2021). "Colombia's Troubles Put a President's Legacy on the Line". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 23 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  2. ^ "Colombia's presidential race heads to runoff". Al Jazeera. 29 May 2022. Archived from the original on 29 May 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  3. ^ "Leftist Gustavo Petro wins Colombian presidency". Financial Times. 19 June 2022. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  4. ^ Bocanegra, Nelson; Griffin, Oliver; Vargas, Carlos (19 June 2022). "Colombia elects former guerrilla Petro as first leftist president". Reuters. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  5. ^ a b Turkewitz, Julie; Glatsky, Genevieve (21 June 2022). "He Promised to Transform Colombia as President. Can He Fulfill That Vow?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 23 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Carlsen, Laura; Dickinson, Elizabeth; Dimitroff, Sashe; Guzmán, Sergio; Molina, Marco; Shifter, Michael; Velez de Berliner, Maria (21 June 2022). "What Will Petro's Presidency Mean for Colombia?". The Dialogue. Inter-American Dialogue. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b Dyer, Gwynne (15 June 2022). "Latin America: The Pink Tide Is Rising". The Portugal News. Archived from the original on 17 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ "En la segunda vuelta presidencial del 2022 se registró la abstención más baja de los últimos 24 años" (in Spanish). National Register of Colombia. 21 June 2022. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  13. ^ a b Marsh, Aygen (21 June 2022). "Where Did The 2.7 Million New Votes For Gustavo Petro Come From Colombia's Presidential Election". Amico Hoops. Archived from the original on 23 June 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  14. ^ Guzmán, Sergio (21 June 2022). "Key Takeaways from Colombia's Presidential Elections". Global Americans. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  15. ^ Galindo, Jorge (20 June 2022). "How Colombia shifted to the left". El País. Archived from the original on 24 June 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  16. ^ Araujo, Gabriel; Vargas, Carlos; Woodford, Isabel (22 June 2022). "Latin America's new 'pink tide' gains pace as Colombia shifts left; Brazil up next". Reuters. Archived from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  17. ^ Garavito, Tatiana; Thanki, Nathan (23 June 2022). "Colombia's shift to the left: A new 'pink tide' in Latin America?". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 23 June 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.