WorldColombian right-wing outsider Abelardo de ‌la Espriella is set to compete in a run-off election for president against leftist senator Ivan Cepeda, voting results from the first-round election showed on Sunday.Candidates separated by just a few percentage points after 1st round of votingThomson Reuters · Posted: May 31, 2026 7:39 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.Colombian right-wing outsider Abelardo de ‌la Espriella, right, is set to compete in a run-off election for president against leftist senator Ivan Cepeda, left, according to Sunday's first round voting results. (Luis Acosta, Raul Arboleda/AFP/Getty Images)Colombian right-wing outsider Abelardo de ‌la Espriella is set to compete in a run-off election for president against leftist senator Ivan Cepeda, voting results from the first-round election showed on Sunday.The two men were separated by just a few percentage points with more than 97 per cent of votes counted, data from the ​country's national registry office showed, in a tight contest that ​focused on security, the economy and populist policies.De la Espriella received 43.7 per cent of the votes and Cepeda held just under 41 per cent, the data showed.De ​la Espriella — a lawyer who has never held elected office — has sought to portray himself as a tough-on-crime supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, and has drawn comparisons with El ⁠Salvador's Nayib Bukele over his style and ⁠policy proposals. Portraying himself as an outsider free ‌from political baggage, de la Espriella, 47, has proposed a tough offensive against illegal armed groups, the construction of 10 mega-prisons, and poverty reduction through better education, health care and housing for the poorest. Misak Indigenous voter casts a ballot in Silvia, Colombia, on Sunday. (Joaquin Sarmiento/AFP/Getty Images)Cepeda, 63, a longtime senator and activist, has been leading opinion polls, but surveys suggested he will face a ⁠much tougher contest in the second round, once right-leaning and centrist voters no longer have multiple candidates to choose from.Low turnout at Sunday's vote may give the candidates room to manoeuvre, however, if they can convince more ‌supporters to vote in the run-off on June 21. Colombians living in one Canadian city turn out in droves to vote in presidential electionJust over half the 41 million eligible voters cast ballots on Sunday, figures from the registry office showed.Cepeda, the son of a murdered communist leader, has promised to pursue peace with illegal armed groups through negotiations, an approach that has ​brought little progress under current leader, President Gustavo Petro.Soldiers patrol as voters line up outside polling station in Barranquilla, Colombia, on Sunday. (Ivan Valencia/The Associated Press)He also plans to deepen reforms meant to reduce inequality and poverty, including by raising ⁠taxes on high-income earners, granting one million hectares to victims of the country's six-decade internal conflict ⁠and expanding health-care coverage. De la Espriella, who has legally represented controversial figures, including former Venezuelan minister Alex Saab, ⁠has warned ⁠that Cepeda would ensure the continuation ​of Petro's economic policies, including a ban on new oil projects, which have drawn criticism from establishment politicians and investors.Exiled Colombians in Canada share stories of death threats, violence that made them flee homeThe ​lawyer says he has financed ⁠his campaign with his own resources, without receiving donations from parties or large companies. Reuters could not independently verify that claim. Paloma Valencia, a senator backed by former president Alvaro Uribe, had until recently been the leading right-wing candidate in the race, but she captured fewer than seven per cent of the votes.