Medellín, Colombia – Ecuador’s incumbent president, Daniel Noboa, defeated leftwing candidate Luisa González in a runoff election on Sunday.
As of Monday afternoon, the National Electoral Council (CNE) reported that Noboa received 55.6% of the vote, with González winning 44.4%, with over 98% of the vote counted.
The win is substantial for Noboa, given the narrow margins in the first round of elections in February. (The pair had competed for the presidency in 2023 as well, with Noboa coming out victorious).
Many have attributed his victory to his strong-arm policies on violence and crime amid a deepening security crisis in the country.
In a speech, Noboa called his campaign a “historic victory.”
“A victory by more than 10 points, a victory by over a million votes, leaving no doubt about who the winner is,” he said following the CNE’s initial confirmation of his win.
González challenged the results, however, saying on Sunday night that she would request a recount, protesting that the vote was fraudulent.
The Guardian reported that international observers from the European Union and the Organization of the American States (OAS) who monitored the election have said that the atmosphere seemed to portray “normality.”
Reuters reported that members of González’s party have accepted Noboa’s victory despite her calls for fraud, with the mayor of Guayaquil saying on X that “the worst is to be a bad loser,” and that “if the people chose it, we have to respect it.”
Voters expect that Noboa’s latest mandate will focus on his security strategy, a major component of his presidential campaign. The Washington Post reported that February was one of the worst months for homicides in Ecuador in recent years, counting 736 homicides, reinforcing security as a priority for the electorate.
Despite criticism of Noboa’s own inability to keep crime rates down during his first term, he will have four more years to implement his security strategy and try to bring Ecuador’s worrying crime rates under control.
A conservative from the National Democratic Action (ADN) party, Noboa’s win eased the country’s outlook in international markets. Following the election, Ecuador’s bond prices rose by 30%, reported La Hora on Monday.
Featured image credit: via FreeMalaysiaToday, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
