Colombia: Left-Wing Candidate Ivan Cepeda Leads The Polls Ahead Presidential Elections
Photograph of 7 January 2026 of the candidate for the Presidency of Colombia by the left-wing party Pacto Histórico, Iván Cepeda, speaking at a press conference in Madrid (Spain). Photo: EFE/ Víctor Lerena
January 24, 2026 Hour: 4:19 pm
Left-wing Senator Iván Cepeda, who is close to Colombian President Gustavo Petro, remains in the lead in voting intention for the presidential elections on May 31, according to a poll released this Sunday.
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Cepeda, candidate of the Historic Pact, Petro’s coalition, has 30% of the electorate’s preferences, followed by lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella, of the far-right movement Defenders of the Homeland, with 22%, according to the survey by the Spanish firm GAD3 published by the Noticias RCN television channel.
The poll, which asked “if the presidential elections were tomorrow, who would you vote for?”, without suggesting names, shows Senator Paloma Valencia in third place with a distant 3%, from the Democratic Center party, founded by former president Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010), while the former mayor of Medellín, Sergio Fajardo, who appeared in third place in other polls as the standard-bearer of the center, falls to seventh place, with only 1%.
A first survey, by the firm Invamer, showed Cepeda in first place on December 1 (31.9%), followed by De la Espriella (18.2%) and Fajardo (8.5%).
The second, from the Brazilian firm AtlasIntel, was released on January 10 and showed that the voting intention is led by De la Espriella (28%), followed by Cepeda (26.5%) and Fajardo (9.4%).
All three polls agree that there will be a need for a second presidential round on June 21, and in that case, today’s GAD3 poll points to a victory for Cepeda, although with a large sector of the electorate undecided.
For a first ballot, Cepeda has 40% of the voting intention, compared to 32% for De la Espriella, while blank votes total 11%; those who would not vote, another 10% and those who do not know or do not respond, 7%.
Cepeda, with 40%, would also win in the second round against Sergio Fajardo (25%), and if the rival were Paloma Valencia, he would beat her with 43% against the senator’s 20%, the poll adds.
GAD3 conducted the survey between January 13 and 15 and, although the universe consulted was not reported, it has a margin of error of 2.83%.
Source: EFE
