The Colombian Presidential election of 2014 will be a two-round runoff election held in Colombia on May 25 and June 15, 2014 as constitutionally mandated (final Sunday in May and the succeeding Sunday three weeks later), with the second round featuring the two-highest vote receivers (if necessary). Incumbent President of Colombia Antonio Cristo de Zapata of the Christian Democrat Party will be eligible to defend his seat and run for a second term as President. As many as seven or eight parties will likely be eligible to contest this election, including the incumbents.
Candidates Gallery[]
Christian Democrat Party[]
Incumbent President Antonio Cristo de Zapata has announced that he will seek a second term, formally submitting his election filing on February 20, 2013. It is widely speculated that he will face no serious primary opposition in the December 2013 PDC primaries, as only perennial fringe candidate Dr. Marcos Lupo, who has never held elected office, has declared that he will run against him.
Republican Party[]
The PR is expected to field a competitive primary and mount a serious challenge against President Zapata. Henrique Capriles Radonski, Governor of Miranda Department and Vice-Chairman of the PR, is the frontrunner. 2010 PR candidate and national runner-up Juan Manuel Santos declared on October 5, 2012 that he would not seek the nomination a second time and that he would run for the Senate instead. Former Ambassador to the United States Gabriel Silva Luján resigned his post in December of 2012 and is widely expected to challenge for the PR nomination as well. Two second-tier candidates, former Minister of Defense Rodrigo Matta Sanchez and Deputy Erica Almovorado Blanco have already filed for the race and are currently the only two candidates officially running.
Social Party[]
The PS primary will be held at the November 2013 party conference in Caracas and is expected to pit Uribist candidate Dr. Felicia Olmos Modelo, who served as Minister of Health from 2003-2010, and left-wing candidate Nicolas Maduro, a Senator from Maracaibo Department and a former labor activist. Neither candidate has yet declared officially, but the strength of both has been seen as leading other PS members to avoid participating in the election.