Senator Paloma Valencia’s victory in yesterday’s right-wing inter-party consultation in Colombia has changed the political chessboard ahead of the 2026 presidential elections. With more than 3 million votes, Valencia not only clearly defeated the other candidates in her sector, but also officially became the presidential candidate and returned the Democratic Center party and the movement known as Uribismo to the front line of national politics.
The result has an evident political meaning. Valencia’s victory places her party’s name and the political project founded by former President Alvaro Uribe in the 2026 presidential race, at a time when many analysts considered that this political space had lost prominence within the Colombian right.
The consultation not only defined a candidacy. It also reopened a dispute that seemed resolved: Who will truly represent the right in the upcoming elections?
Related: Colombia’s Right Wing Moves Closer to the Presidency.
Paloma Valencia and the return of Uribismo in Colombia
Just a few months ago, few were betting on Paloma Valencia as a protagonist in the presidential race. Polls clearly placed independent lawyer Abelardo de La Espriella at the head of the right-wing electorate’s preferences; his confrontational rhetoric and radical discourse had managed to capture the attention of a large part of the most conservative vote.
In that scenario, Valencia appeared relegated to the background. Her figure was perceived as the continuity of traditional Uribismo, a movement that many had written off after years of political wear and tear and internal divisions — remember the scandalous departures of Miguel Uribe Londoño and Maria Fernanda Cabal from the organization.
This Sunday’s consultation dismantled that perception. The more than 3 million votes obtained by the senator — although far below the votes obtained by other candidates in consultations in previous years — show that Uribismo still has a considerable, organized, and disciplined electoral base.
They also demonstrate that the Democratic Center retains a political machine capable of mobilizing voters when it comes to defending its space within the right.
That result returns Valencia to a central position in the presidential race and makes her a direct rival of De La Espriella in the dispute for leadership of the conservative electorate.
Just as happened yesterday with the vote that once again makes the now party — and formerly coalition — Historic Pact the main parliamentary political force in Colombia, evidencing that the left is not an anecdote in the political present of one of the most conservative countries in the region, Uribismo took advantage of the polarization and showed its hand, increasing its representation in the Senate by four seats and highlighting its presidential candidate.
— Álvaro Uribe Vélez (@AlvaroUribeVel) March 9, 2026
The dispute for leadership of the right and the options for the center
Valencia’s victory does not eliminate Abelardo de La Espriella’s media leadership, but it does open a real competition for the representation of the Colombian right. Until now, the lawyer seemed to be advancing without a clear rival within that political space.
Valencia’s emergence changes that dynamic. The senator not only has an electoral base demonstrated at the polls, but also the territorial and organizational structure of Democratic Center, an asset that remains decisive in Colombian politics and one that De La Espriella does not have — the party that supports him, National Salvation, of which he is not formally a part, only secured four seats in the Senate yesterday.
In other words, while De La Espriella has built his candidacy on a strong media presence and a very marked ideological discourse based on the strident rejection of the Petro government’s actions, Valencia has something that her rival still lacks: A consolidated party and a national political network. That difference could be decisive as the presidential campaign progresses.
But if Paloma Valencia wants to transform her victory in the consultation into a real option for power, her challenge is not solely on the right, which is, at least partially, taken from her by De La Espriella and his extremist discourse. It lies, above all, in the political center.
Sunday’s election day made it clear that this space has a representative with his own weight: The former director of DANE and former candidate for Mayor of Bogota, Juan Daniel Oviedo. His result confirmed that there is a significant electorate seeking a more moderate alternative within the Colombian political panorama, with more than 1,220,000 votes strongly identified with Oviedo’s figure.
Paloma Valencia, center-right candidate?
For Valencia, attracting part of that vote will be essential: A way to differentiate herself from De La Espriella and manage to attract more voters to her proposal. In fact, and paradoxically, she could find an opportunity precisely in the ideological positioning of her main rival, despite being the candidate of the Democratic Center, the party that has so far represented the most right-wing discourse on the Colombian ideological spectrum.
The independent Abelardo de La Espriella’s emergence into politics came with a clear — and at times very forced, with contradictions in past personal positions — commitment to take up the banners of the hard right. This radicalism has produced a curious effect on public debate: Some Colombian media outlets yesterday described Democratic Center as a “center-right” force. Unprecedented.
The label is debatable and hardly fits the history and ideological profile of the party founded by Alvaro Uribe. But in politics, perceptions can be as important as academic definitions. And in this case, that perception could end up benefiting Paloma Valencia.
Juan Daniel Oviedo: "Yo me siento supremamente orgulloso de haber formado parte de esta consulta. Colombia habló y le dio un respaldo muy importante a esta gran consulta.
Paloma liderará la bandera de la campaña presidencial y a quien vamos a apoyar porque esa es la palabra que… pic.twitter.com/a7tlThsLDq
— Centro Democrático (@CeDemocratico) March 9, 2026
A candidacy that reopens the presidential race
Until very recently, the outlook for the 2026 presidential elections seemed relatively clear. Many analysts spoke of a contest that would be decided mainly between the left’s candidate, Senator Ivan Cepeda, and Abelardo de La Espriella himself as the representative of the most radical right, born as a polarized response in opposition to the current Petro government.
Paloma Valencia’s victory introduces a new factor into that equation. Her candidacy not only represents the competitive return of Uribismo to the presidential race, but also the possibility of reorganizing the political map of the right.
Her success in the consultation demonstrates that there is a solid electoral base willing to support that project. If she manages to add the support of the other candidates who participated in the consultation and take advantage of the Democratic Center’s territorial structure, Valencia could build a much more competitive candidacy than many anticipated.
But her real work in the coming weeks will be to expand that support beyond her natural base. If she manages to attract part of the more moderate right-wing vote — which today observes political polarization with distance and basically does not want Cepeda as president, but is also not a friend of permanent noise — the senator could become something more than just the Uribismo candidate. She could become a real contender for the presidency.
Just a few days ago, that possibility seemed remote. Today, after the results of the consultation, it is a hypothesis that no one in Colombian politics can afford to ignore.