Liberal politician Carlos Galan won the mayoral elections in Colombia’s capital Bogota.
Galan received almost 49% of the votes, according to the National Registry after counting 87.7% of the vote.
The son of slain politician Luis Carlos Galan decidedly defeated his rivals on both the left and the right.
The Bogota vote ended disappointingly for the progressive party of President Gustavo Petro, whose long-time ally Gustavo Bolivar ended third with less than 19% of the votes.
Also in Medellin, the elections ended badly for the political allies of the president.
Federico Gutierrez, the arch-conservative former mayor of Colombia’s second largest city, was reelected with a convincing 73.74% of the votes against 9.94% for the progressive Juan Upegui.
This victory will likely affect ongoing peace talks between the government and Medellin-based organized crime group Oficina de Envigado, which has been fiercely opposed by Gutierrez.
In Cali, independent candidate Alvaro Eder surprisingly won the mayoral elections after trailing behind the ally of local electoral baron Dilian Francisca Toro in the polls.
As expected, the elections in Barranquilla were won by former Mayor Alejandro Char, whose clan has controlled regional politics around the Caribbean port city for more than a decade despite persistent allegations of corruption, including voter fraud.