Five out of Colombia’s seven major cities handed their mayor’s office over to a progressive candidate in the elections October 30.
Progressives secured the mayorships in Bogota, Medellin, Cartagena, Bucaramanga and Santa Marta, while only the Cali and Barranquilla voters selected a conservative mayor.
Bogota (D.C.)
The next mayor of Colombia’s capital city will be former guerrilla and socialist candidate Gustavo Petro, who received 32.16% of the votes, defeating Green Party centrist Enrique Peñalosa (24.92%) and independent Gina Parody (16.75%).
Medellin (Antioquia)
Liberal Party candidate Anibal Gaviria narrowly beat independent candidate and former Mayor Luis Perez, with 37.65% of the votes, trailed by Perez’s 34.89%.
Cartagena (Bolivar)
Left-wing Alianza Social Independiente (ASI) candidate Campo Elias Teran, with 54.89%, defeated “Por Una Cartagena Social” contender Maria del Socorro Bustamante, with 17.79%.
Bucaramanga (Santander)
Bucaramanga’s next mayor will be another Liberal Party candidate, Luis Bohorquez, who earned an easy victory (51.91%) over Conservative candidate Martha Pinto (29.64%).
Santa Marta (Magdalena)
The Liberal Party’s Carlos Caicedo secured 53.2% of Santa Marta’s popular vote, defeating Conservative candidate Alejandro Palacio, with 27.75%.
Cali (Valle de Cauca)
In a landslide victory, Rodrigo Guerrerro, an independent with a conservative backing, received 42.5% of the vote for Cali mayor, comfortably beating Milton Castrillon’s 19.48%.
Barranquilla (Atlantico)
Conservative centrist Elsa Noguera, of the Cambio Radical Party, won 58.22% of the Barranquilla mayor vote, doubling runner-up Juan Garcia Estrada’s 29%.