Green Party presidential candidate Antanas Mockus snaps at the heels of Partido de la U’s candidate Juan Manuel Santos in the latest voter opinion poll. Voter support for Mockus jumped from 29% to 34%, while Santos’ popularity dropped by one percentage point and hovers at 35%.
In the same poll voters were asked, if Mockus and Santos were to face off in a second round election, who would they vote for? 50% of those polled said they would vote for Mockus, while 44% said they would vote for Santos.
According to the poll, support for Conservative Party candidate Noemi Sanin has collapsed. She is left with the support of only 12% of poll participants, compared to 19% in the previous poll.
Voter support for Liberal Party candidate Rafael Pardo moved up one percent from 4% in the last poll, to 5% in this poll. The results were exactly the same with Polo Democratico’s candidate Gustavo Petro, showing a jump from 4% to 5%.
Cambio Radical candidate German Vergas Lleras‘ popularity rose from 2% in the previous poll to 4% in the latest poll.
Mockus, traditionally considered to be an outsider in Colombian politics, has enjoyed steadily increasing popularity ever since the Congressional elections in March. In two weeks, support for the Green Party candidate has soared from 22% to 34%, an increase of 12%.
Santos, who is Colombia’s former defense minister, is considered the political heir of current President Alvaro Uribe, who will leave office in August after completing two full terms.
The poll was conducted by telephone between Monday and Wednesday in 38 counties around Colombia by CM& and Colombia’s National Consultancy Center.
The first round of Colombia’s presidential elections will be held on May 30. If none of the candidates wins 50% plus one of the vote, the two most voted for candidates will face off in a second round election.