De la Espriella leads Colombia's runoff with contained triumphalism as Cepeda hopes for a late surge

MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Friday, June 19th 2026 - 10:47 UTC

The first-round margin does not look comfortable heading into the runoff

Right-wing lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella heads into Colombia's presidential runoff, set for this Sunday, June 21, as the favorite, though with contained triumphalism, while left-wing senator Iván Cepeda trusts that a late push can still overturn the result. Both campaigns sense the election is closer than the polls reflect.

Most surveys give De la Espriella a lead —an AtlasIntel poll for Semana magazine put him at 52.2% against Cepeda's 44.5%— in line with his victory in the first round on May 31, when he beat his rival by some 632,222 votes (43.7% to 40.9%). Right-wing candidate Paloma Valencia, third at the time, later endorsed the front-runner. Analysts, however, recall that polls are “a snapshot” of the moment and not a definitive result. “Let's not get overconfident; this is not won with polls,” warned De la Espriella's campaign chief, former senator Mauricio Gómez Amín.