Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in Colombia on 31 May 2026. Incumbent President Gustavo Petro, elected in 2022, is constitutionally barred from seeking a consecutive second term.
In the previous presidential election in 2022, as none of the presidential nominees obtained at least 50% of the votes in the first round, a runoff was held between the top two candidates, Gustavo Petro and Rodolfo Hernández Suárez. Petro won the run-off, becoming the first left-wing candidate to be elected president of Colombia since the country's independence in 1810. The results for the second round saw the lowest record of spoiled and blank ballots in over 20 years and a turnout of 58.17%, the highest since 1998.
Since taking office, Petro and his allies have been involved in several scandals. One scandal, nicknamed "Nannygate", involved the publishing of recordings of then ambassador to Venezuela, Armando Benedetti, speaking with Petro's Chief of Staff, Laura Sarabia, about possible illegal financing and threats of revealing compromising information on campaign rivals. Both of were forced to resign from their positions as a result. The scandal lowered approval of Petro, being viewed by the public as an indication of corruption inside the government. His presidential approval rating dropped to a low of 26% in July 2023 according to a Datexco survey.
In 2025, Petro fired his entire cabinet to reassess his previous choices in light of his appointment of Armando Benedetti as Chief of Staff and promotion of 30-year-old Laura Sarabia to Foreign Minister; both were embroiled in a campaign finance scandal. His key labor and healthcare reforms stalling at the legislative branch, the arrest of his son in a money laundering scandal involving campaign financing, and the scandal involving his ministers contributed to a decrease in public support for the president. However, Petro's approval ratings rebounded significantly reaching 49% approval as recently as February 2026.
Cepeda announced his candidacy in July 2025 and was considered one of the initial favorites for the presidential nomination of the Historic Pact in the polls. Cepeda initially competed against six other pre-candidates, four of whom later withdrew, leaving him to face Minister Carolina Corcho and former mayor of MedellÃÂn, Daniel Quintero, in the primary election.
Following his victory in the primary election in October 2025, Cepeda officially became the presidential candidate of the Historic Pact. Carolina Corcho, who received the second-highest number of votes, became the lead candidate for the Senate in the 2026 parliamentary elections in March.
After obtaining an overwhelming majority during the parliamentary election on March 8, Cepeda would announce Aida Quilcué as the candidate for vice president on Monday, March 9.
Valencia became the official candidate of the Democratic Center after winning by a wide margin among the delegates, defeating her opponent, Senator MarÃÂa Fernanda Cabal. Valencia also competed in the national primary election on March 8 during the 2026 parliamentary election, where she obtained a significant majority with 3,236,286 votes, surpassing her eight fellow candidates.
Valencia announced his vice-presidential candidate on Thursday, March 12, revealing Juan Daniel Oviedo, who obtained 1,255,510 votes, the second highest vote count during the national primary election.
Abelardo de la Espriella expressed support for the bombing of "narco-terrorist camps" and fumigation of coca plantations with the help of US aircraft.
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This section shows opinion polls for hypothetical second-round matchups. Results include voting intentions, with undecided/non-voters not explicitly broken out in the poll.
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A poll conducted by market research firm Guarumo and Ecoanalitica in February 2025 showed conservative candidate Vicky Dávila leading with 15.1%, followed by president Petro's ally Gustavo BolÃÂvar at 11.9%. It also showed former presidential candidate and centrist Sergio Fajardo at 11.5%. Meanwhile, 7.1% polled said that they would not vote for any of the candidates.
Another poll conducted by the National Consulting Center in March 2025, commissioned and financed by Semana magazine, showed a close lead between Dávila with 13.6% and Fajardo with 13.4%, as well as BolÃÂvar at 10.1%. The poll also showed Fajardo leading the voting intention with 35.1% against Dávila's 31.7% in a run-off.