Colombia's 2026 presidential race takes shape as candidates announce running mates

Colombia's presidential race crystallized this week as candidates locked in their running mates, a procedural milestone that revealed the shape of the political battlefield heading into the May 31 first round. The deadline fell on Friday, and by day's end, the contours of the campaign had shifted noticeably—particularly on the right, where one candidate had begun consolidating power through strategic withdrawals by rivals.

Paloma Valencia, the right-wing standard-bearer who had won the so-called Great Consultation for Colombia with three million votes in early March, moved swiftly to convert that primary victory into institutional dominance. She had already selected Juan Daniel Oviedo as her running mate, a choice that had been anticipated. But the real momentum came from defections. Daniel Palacios, the former Interior Minister who had gathered enough signatures to run independently, announced he was stepping aside to back Valencia instead. Hours later, Felipe Córdoba, the former Comptroller General who had also qualified as a candidate, made the same calculation. In a video statement, Córdoba said he was uniting forces with Valencia because "Colombia needs union to recover the country," citing what he described as one of the most difficult moments in the nation's history—rising insecurity, a weakening economy, and millions of Colombians convinced their country was losing its way. The New Liberal Movement, represented by Juan Manuel Galán, formally endorsed Valencia's ticket as well, cementing what amounted to a rightward consolidation around a single standard-bearer.

Former President Álvaro Uribe, the founder and de facto leader of the Democratic Center party that Valencia represents, appeared at the electoral registry in Bogotá to witness her official registration, a symbolic show of party unity. Ingrid Betancourt, a former presidential candidate herself, was also present to signal her support. Valencia, accepting the New Liberal endorsement, invoked the memory of Luis Carlos Galán, the liberal leader assassinated in 1989, saying she felt honored to carry forward the legacy of a man "who gave everything for Colombia."

On the center-left and left, the running mate selections painted a different picture—one of fragmentation rather than consolidation. Claudia López, the centrist candidate, chose Leonardo Huerta, a lawyer and professor from Pereira who had been her only opponent in the center's internal consultation. Huerta, largely unknown in public life until now, had finished second in that contest, following the tradition that the vice presidential slot goes to the runner-up. Sergio Fajardo, running on a platform of education-focused reform under the banner of Dignity and Commitment, selected Edna Bonilla, an academic and former secretary of education in Bogotá. Roy Barreras announced that Martha Lucía Zamora, a former prosecutor, would accompany him on the ballot. Iván Cepeda had already revealed his choice of Aida Quilcué, an indigenous leader, while Abelardo de la Espriella selected former Minister José Manuel Restrepo.

One significant withdrawal reshaped the center further. Juan Fernando Cristo, the leader of the In Motion movement and a former minister, announced he was withdrawing from the race entirely. In a video posted to social media, Cristo said he would not register his candidacy for the first round, citing what he saw as an excess of candidates that was confusing voters and muddying the public debate. He had announced his running mate—Norma Vera Salazar, a human rights defender and professor—just the day before, making the reversal sudden.

On the left, Mauricio Lizcano, a former minister of information technology who had served in Gustavo Petro's cabinet before breaking with the government, selected Luis Carlos Reyes as his running mate. Reyes, known as "Mr. Taxes" from his tenure leading the national tax authority early in Petro's term, had later served as commerce minister before his own noisy rupture with the president. He had attempted his own candidacy, which failed to gain traction, and had explored an alliance with Carlos Caicedo's alternative left movement, Citizen Force, which also came to nothing.

The vice presidential announcements, while procedurally routine, signaled how candidates were positioning themselves for the final stretch. Valencia's consolidation of the right suggested she would enter the campaign as the establishment choice of that political sector. The fragmentation on the center and left meant those voters faced multiple options, with no clear rallying point. The May 31 election would test whether Valencia's unified right could hold, or whether the divided center and left could coalesce around a single alternative.