2026 Colombian presidential election

Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in Colombia in May 2026. Gustavo Petro, who was elected president in 2022, is ineligible to run due to term limits.
As none of the presidential nominees obtained at least 50% of the votes in 2022, a runoff was held on 19 June 2022, 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 blank votes in over 20 years. Furthermore, turnout for the run-off was 58.17%, the highest since 1998.
A series of protests began in Colombia on 26 September 2022 against the cross-sectoral structural reforms of President Petro and the government. The protests continued on 20 June 2023 in major cities, motivated by his political agenda, the alleged drug-money involved on his 2022 presidential campaign, and accusations of possibly illegal interceptions to civilians by close members of his cabinet. A scandal emerged nicknamed "Nannygate" and involving recordings of his ambassador in Venezuela, Armando Benedetti, speaking with Petro's Chief of Staff, Laura Sarabia, over possible illegal financing and threats of revealing compromising information on campaign running. Both of them had to resign his position as a result of this. This seriously decreased Petro's credibility and approval, exposing possible corruption inside the current government, making his presidential approval rate to drop to only 26% according to Bloomberg.
Since taking office, Petro and his allies have been embroiled in several scandals. In 2025, Petro sacked his whole government following his previous choice to appoint the scandal-ridden political operator Armando Benedetti as chief of staff, while promoting Laura Sarabia, a 30-year-old confidante, to foreign minister despite her lack of foreign policy experience. Both were embroiled in a campaign finance scandal. Due to Petro’s “total peace” policy, the army has been accused of remaining in the barracks while illegal organizations gain ground. Several factors such as heightened crime, his stalled reforms in the legislative branch, failing to pass labor and health reforms, as well as his frequent use of presidential decrees, being the first president to use it for a budget in 2024 since 1904, his disagreements with the Office of the Attorney General of Colombia and his supporters violent attack against the Supreme Court, the arrest of his son Nicolas in a money laundering scandal involving campaign financing, and the scandal involving his ministers, have contributed to the fall of Petro's public support.
Colombian presidents are elected for four-year terms using a two-round system; if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the first round, a runoff is held between the top two candidates. The vice president is elected on the same ticket as the president. Presidents are limited to a single four-year term and Article 191 of the constitution requires candidates to be Colombian by birth and at least thirty years old. In line with the constitution, Colombian citizens by birth or by naturalization, aged eighteen or older have the right to vote. Several scenarios can cause the loss of the right to vote, as outlined in the constitution. Citizens in detention centers can vote from the establishments determined by the National Civil Registry. The civil registry inscription is not automatic, and citizens must go to the regional office of the registry to register. Legislative Act No. 2 of 2015 established that the runner-up in the presidential elections is given a seat in the Senate and their vice president candidate becomes a member of the Chamber of Representatives.
A poll conducted by market research firm Guarumo and Ecoanalitica in February 2025, showed independent candidate Vicky Dávila currently leads with 15.1%, followed by president Petro's ally and leftist Gustavo Bolivar, at 11.9%, as well as former presidential candidate and centrist Sergio Farjardo, with 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 Bolivar at 10.1%. The poll also showed Fajardo leading the voting intention with 35.1% against Dávila's 31.7% in a run-off.