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. Gustavo Petro, a senator, former Mayor of Bogotá, and runner-up in the 2018 election, defeated Rodolfo Hernández Suárez, former mayor of Bucaramanga, in the runoff election. Petro's victory was considered the first left-wing candidate to be elected president of Colombia in the Colombian recent history, and his running mate, Francia Márquez, is the first Afro-Colombian elected to the vice-presidency, as well as the second female vice-president overall.
The elections were held in the aftermath of the 2021 Colombian protests amid poor economic conditions during the country's COVID-19 pandemic. Petro, a former AD/M-19 member who was defeated by Duque by over ten percentage points in 2018, 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.
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. 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, which led him to be dubbed the "King of TikTok".
Petro won the runoff with 50.42% of the vote to Hernández's 47.35%. Petro dominated in Bogotá and regions on Colombia's Caribbean and Pacific coasts, and received over 81% of the vote in the coastal department of Chocó. Due to an increased turnout among his supporters, Petro received nearly 2.7 million more votes in the second round than the first. The result was noted for a continuing trend of left-wing victories in Latin America, which has been dubbed as a "new pink tide".
Background
During the previous election held in 2018, a run-off took place as no candidate attained 50% of the vote. The top two candidates were senator Iván Duque of the Democratic Center party and Humane Colombia nominee Gustavo Petro, a former mayor of Bogotá and a former AD/M-19 member. The election's issues included the FARC peace agreement, corruption, unemployment, and healthcare. Duque defeated Petro by over ten percentage points; however, there were subsequent allegations of fraud and irregularities. As the runner up, Petro became a senator per the Legislative Act No. 2 of 2015.
Widespread demonstrations against the policies of president Duque took place from late April to December 2021. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Colombia, which had dealt a blow to the economy and at a time when unemployment rates were high, Duque proposed a tax increase. Furthermore, a controversial bill was proposed in Congress that would have resulted in the privatization of healthcare. The majority of the protests were peaceful, with some cases of vandalism. According to human-rights groups, police reacted violently to protesters in various instances, leading to deaths and alleged cases of sexual assault. The protests led to a withdrawal of the healthcare and tax reform bills and the resignation of finance minister Alberto Carrasquilla Barrera.
Electoral system The National Registry confirmed that the minimum number of signatures required was 580,620, equivalent to 3% of the total valid vote in the 2018 Colombian presidential election, and that they had to be delivered to the registry by 17 December 2021. On 17 December, the National Registry confirmed that seven pre-candidates had delivered the necessary number of signatures: Alejandro Char, Rodolfo Hernández, Federico Gutiérrez, Alejandro Gaviria, Luis Pérez, Roy Barreras, and Juan Carlos Echeverry. Of these seven pre-candidates, Char, Gutiérrez, and Gaviria accepted the endorsements of political parties, thereby bypassing the necessity to run as independents, while Barreras and Echeverry later decided to drop out of the presidential race; this left Hernández and Pérez as the only independent candidates in the race.
Primaries and party conventions
Historic Pact for Colombia The Historic Pact for Colombia (Spanish: Pacto Histórico por Colombia) is a coalition of left-wing, progressive, and Indigenous politicians. Five pre-candidates representing six political parties or movements announced that they would be standing for election as the unified presidential candidate for the coalition. The candidate was chosen by public vote on 13 March 2022.
Gustavo Petro was announced as the winner of the public vote and was nominated to be the candidate of the Historic Pact for Colombia coalition.
Hope Center Coalition The Hope Center Coalition (Spanish: Coalición Centro Esperanza), formerly known as the Coalition of Hope (Spanish: Coalición de la Esperanza) until 28 November 2021, is a coalition of centre and centre-left politicians. Five pre-candidates announced that they would be standing for election as the unified presidential candidate for the coalition. The candidate was chosen by public vote on 13 March 2022.
Sergio Fajardo was announced as the winner of the public vote and was nominated to be the candidate of the Hope Center Coalition.
Team for Colombia Coalition The Team for Colombia Coalition (Spanish: Coalición Equipo por Colombia) is a coalition of centre-right and right-wing politicians. Five pre-candidates announced that they would be standing for election as the unified presidential candidate for the coalition. The candidate was chosen by public vote on 13 March 2022.
Federico Gutiérrez was announced as the winner of the public vote and was nominated to be the candidate of the Team for Colombia Coalition.
Other candidates Rodolfo Hernández, former mayor of Bucaramanga (League of Anti-Corruption Governors). Hernández announced on 29 June 2021 that he would run as an independent candidate. On 13 December 2021, Hernández announced that he had delivered nearly 1.9 million signatures to the National Registry in support of his candidacy. John Milton Rodríguez, senator (Fair and Free Colombia). Rodríguez was chosen as the candidate of the evangelical Christian party Fair and Free Colombia (Spanish: Colombia Justa Libres) at the party's national convention in November 2021, obtaining 75% of the delegates' votes. Enrique Gómez Martínez (National Salvation Movement). On 1 November 2021, Gómez Martínez announced that he was relaunching the conservative National Salvation Movement (Spanish: Movimiento Salvación Nacional) that had been founded by his late uncle Álvaro Gómez Hurtado. On 1 December 2021, the National Registry accepted the return of the National Salvation Movement as a political party, and Gómez Martínez became the party's presidential candidate.
Candidates
Summary of candidates The following candidates registered with the National Registrar of Civil Status and appeared on the ballot of the first round. This list also displays the most recent political office held by each candidate.
Party Presidential nominee Vice-Presidential nominee CoalitionIndependent Rodolfo HernándezMayor of Bucaramanga (2016–2019) Marelen Castillo League of Anti-Corruption Governors Humane Colombia Gustavo PetroSenator (2018–2022) Francia Márquez (SPS) Historic Pact for Colombia
Candidates not in the runoff
Party Presidential nominee Vice-Presidential nominee CoalitionColombia Justa Libres John Milton Rodríguez Senator (2018–2022) Sandra de las Lajas Secretary of Culture of Cali (2012) Creemos Colombia Federico Gutiérrez Mayor of Medellín (2016–2019) Rodrigo Lara SánchezMayor of Neiva (2016–2019) Team for ColombiaIndependent Social Alliance Sergio FajardoGovernor of Antioquia (2012–2015) Luis Gilberto Murillo (CR) Minister of Environment (2016–2017) Hope Center CoalitionNational Salvation Movement Enrique Gómez Carlos Cuartas
Withdrew Óscar Iván Zuluaga, former Minister of Finance and Public Credit and runner-up in the 2014 Colombian presidential election (Democratic Center). It was announced that the candidate for the right wing Democratic Center party would be chosen via two polls conducted internally during November 2021. The polls were conducted by the two polling agencies Centro Nacional de Consultoría (CNC) and YanHass via telephone, and polled 2,100 party members (comprising 25% of the final weighting) and 2,100 members of the public (comprising the remaining 75% weighting). In both polls Zuluaga emerged comfortably as the preferred candidate, winning 53% of the vote in the CNC poll and 52% of the vote in the YanHass poll, and he was announced as the Democratic Center's candidate on 22 November 2021. He beat four other pre-candidates: María Fernanda Cabal (23% and 27% in the CNC and YanHass polls, respectively), Paloma Valencia (11% and 9%), Alirio Barrera (8% and 7%), and Rafael Nieto Loiaza (5% and 5%). The result of the vote caused controversy, with Cabal in particular disputing the results of the polls and accusing current president Iván Duque (also of the Democratic Center party) of interfering with the voting process to ensure that Zuluaga would win. Following his victory, Zuluaga was invited to join the Team for Colombia Coalition, but he originally declined the invitation. However, following Federico Gutiérrez's nomination as the Team for Colombia candidate, Zuluaga withdrew his candidacy and stated that he would support Gutiérrez's campaign. Luis Gilberto Murillo, former governor of Chocó and former Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development (Colombia Reborn). Murillo had been expected to be a pre-candidate for the Hope Center Coalition, but on 21 January 2022 he announced that he would run independently as the candidate for the Colombia Reborn (Spanish: Colombia Renaciente) party. He later stated that he had not felt welcome within the Hope Center Coalition. However, on 17 March he announced he would suspend his presidential bid to become the vice presidential nominee of the Hope Center Coalition. Luis Pérez, former mayor of Medellín and former governor of Antioquia (Colombia Think Big). Pérez announced on 26 February 2021 that he would be running for the presidency as an independent candidate. On 15 December 2021, it was confirmed that Pérez had received the necessary number of signatures to be officially declared as a candidate. On 11 May 2022, Peréz withdrew his candidacy, citing a "hateful" and "polarised" political atmosphere. He stated that in the presidential debates, there is "no room for ideas, [but] only for insults and fights." Pérez also said that he intends to "return love to politics, so people do not vote out of fear". Íngrid Betancourt, former senator and member of the Oxygen Green Party. Betancourt announced her candidacy on 18 January 2022 and originally joined the Hope Center Coalition. However, following a dispute with fellow coalition pre-candidate Alejandro Gaviria, Betancourt declared on 29 January that she was leaving the coalition and would run as an independent candidate under her own Oxygen Green (Spanish: Verde Oxígeno) party. Following a poor showing in the polls, Betancourt withdrew from the race on 20 May 2022 and endorsed Hernández Suárez.
Campaign