Abelardo de la Espriella has moved to the edge of Colombia's presidency after winning the first round in May with 44 percent of the vote and entering Sunday’s run-off as the clear front-runner against Ivan Cepeda. AtlasIntel put his support at 52 percent on June 13, a remarkable position for a 47-year-old criminal defence lawyer with no political experience.
That is why his name is drawing so much attention now. De la Espriella is not coming from the usual ladder of elected office or party machinery. He is a political newcomer whose rise has been fast enough to unsettle the familiar map of Colombian politics, and his campaign has leaned hard into a promise of security and order rather than a broad governing résumé.
The size of his lead helps explain the momentum. In a race decided by small shifts, 44 percent in May gave him a strong base, and the June 13 polling suggested he had extended that advantage rather than merely holding it. Supporters at a rally in San Jose del Guaviare on a recent June evening waved the slogan Strong for the homeland, a sign that his message has landed with voters looking for a tougher hand.
Luisa Castro arrived at that rally wearing her own yellow football jersey, and she said she backed De la Espriella because he is someone people have never seen in politics before. “He’s different,” she said. That kind of appeal matters because his strength is also his contradiction: he is presented as an outsider with no political experience, yet he is the candidate closest to the presidency.
Patricia Munoz said De la Espriella has pulled ahead by channeling conservative voters, winning over some people disappointed with the government and presenting himself as an alternative to established figures. He has also built a broader public profile outside politics, having represented former right-wing President Alvaro Uribe and Alex Saab, while developing business interests in menswear, rum and whiskey and releasing classical music albums. He has even opened a Miami-area restaurant.
His language has been as sharp as his rise. In a social media video from July 2025, he said he was capable of bombing, fumigating and striking with an iron fist against criminals and the corrupt while protecting law-abiding Colombians. That hardline tone is the through line of his campaign, and it is part of what gives his candidacy its force — and its risk — as Colombia heads into the final round.
Sunday will settle whether that message is enough to carry him past Cepeda. If he wins, Colombia would be turning the page to a presidency led by a newcomer who built his campaign on security, outrage and the promise of a break with the political class. If he falls short, the race will have shown how quickly a figure with no elected record can still come within reach of power.
