Leftist is frontrunner after Colombia presidential primaries

Colombians have voted for a new congress and also cast ballots in presidential primaries to choose party candidates for the May presidential contest

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Colombians voted for a new congress Sunday and also cast ballots in presidential primaries to choose party candidates for the May presidential contest, as the country held its first elections since the coronavirus pandemic began two years ago.

As opinion polls had indicated, leftist Sen. Gustavo Petro emerged as the current leader in the race for the presidency. With just over 90% of all votes counted, he won the primary for the Historical Pact, a coalition of left-wing parties, with 80% of the more than 5 million votes cast in its primary.

Team Colombia, a coalition of conservative groups, drew 3.6 million voters to its primary, which was won by Federico Gutierrez, a former mayor of Medellin who has criticized some aspects of the 2016 peace deal with Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

A group of centrist parties known as the Hope Coalition got 2 million voters in its primary, which was won by mathematician Sergio Fajardo, who also ran in the 2018 presidential election.