Colombia's Presidential Election Heads to Runoff
The Facts
Colombia's presidential election will head for a runoff election after preliminary results on Sun. showed that no candidate had received the 50% of votes needed to win.
With 99% of votes counted, early results showed leftist Gustavo Petro with 40.3% of votes, and right-wing anti-corruption populist Rodolfo Hernández with 28.2%.
The Spin
Left narrative
Hernández's unexpected triumph over Gutiérrez is a victory against the establishment and evidence that Colombia is hungry to elect anyone who isn't represented by the country's mainstream conservative leaders. The country needs change, which is exactly what Petro is offering.
Right narrative
While Colombia does need change, it can't afford the "leap in the dark" that Petro represents. Gutiérrez had been Colombia's best chance of keeping Petro out of power, but that responsibility now falls on Hernández.
