The legislative elections next Sunday, March 8, have turned Colombia’s political map into a mosaic of forces, figures, and strategies amid a campaign that, beyond deciding the composition of Congress, serves as a barometer for the presidential elections that follow in May.
More than 3,200 registered candidates are competing for 103 seats in the Senate and 183 in the House of Representatives, distributed across 524 candidate lists filed with the National Civil Registry. Some of the main party lists — such as the Historic Pact or the Democratic Center — are running in these elections with closed lists and the determination not to let a single vote slip away, while other options are doing so under the traditional open-list format.
While public attention has often focused on the inter-party primaries held the same day to define presidential candidacies — there are three primaries on a single ballot — the congressional election will not only renew the legislative branch through 2030, but will also determine who the key interlocutors will be in negotiating laws and governance agreements with the future president.
Related: Voting Abroad Begins for Colombia’s Legislative Elections.
Legislative elections in Colombia: the Historic Pact, the ruling coalition and its closed lists
On the left-wing spectrum, the Historic Pact presents itself as the main political force, heir to the project that brought Gustavo Petro to power and the result of the merger of former movements and progressive parties in 2025.
Its Senate list is closed, meaning candidates appear in a predetermined order — chosen by popular vote in October of last year — and voters can only select the list as presented, without changing positions.
At the head of that list is Carolina Corcho, Petro’s former health minister, whose name has been central in the debate over health care system reform and the government’s social agenda. Four months ago, Corcho competed to head the presidential ticket against Ivan Cepeda, being clearly defeated by the latter and then moving on to lead the Senate list.
The former minister embodies the hard line within Petrismo: A left wing seeking to consolidate its majority to push through structural reforms, with internal tensions over the balance between political pragmatism and a more determined ideological stance less inclined toward political compromise with other forces.
In addition to her figure, within the Historic Pact, there are profiles from the traditional left and social activists, under the expectation that the closed list will reduce internal fractures and deliver a cohesive caucus to the party.
However, on the left there are two other lists competing this Sunday: the Citizen Power (Fuerza Ciudadana) coalition, led by former Magdalena governor and presidential hopeful Carlos Caicedo, and Roy Barreras’ Broad United Front (Frente Amplio Unitario), which will face other contenders in the weekend’s primaries. Both candidacies have been critical of the Historic Pact, accusing it of political “sectarianism.”
Right and Uribismo: Democratic Center and National Salvation
On the right flank, the traditional force is the Democratic Center, with a closed list of candidates strongly associated with the Uribista machinery. The party, historically led by figures such as former President Alvaro Uribe in the recent past, seeks to consolidate its caucus to balance the ruling coalition’s power or offer parliamentary support to a potential conservative president in the country.
After poor results in the 2022 elections, as punishment for the unpopularity of President Ivan Duque’s administration — a member of that party — Uribe stands at number 25 on a closed list that hopes to drive from the back a vote aimed at recovering the support lost four years ago, even if it remains far from the hegemonic positions of two decades ago.
Recent polls show that these two forces — the Historic Pact and the Democratic Center — continue to lead Senate voting intention, with the left still holding a significant advantage, foreshadowing a Congress polarized between these two political forces.
Alongside the Democratic Center, the National Salvation movement emerges in these elections as a relevant player seeking to capitalize on discontent with traditional structures, albeit with lower percentages in surveys, and with figures aiming to renew conservative discourse.
This party, led by far-right lawyer Enrique Gomez — grandson of the controversial former President Laureano Gomez in the 1950s — is the main congressional electoral base of the allied presidential candidacy led by Abelardo de La Espriella.
In addition, movements such as Radical Change (Cambio Radical) and the Colombian Conservative Party are maintaining open lists with their own candidates, trying to attract voters seeking alternatives within the traditional right, although polls predict poor results for both, victims of the polarization between Petrismo and Uribismo.
The dispersion of the center: coalitions with open and closed lists
In the centrist spectrum, there is a mosaic of groups and coalitions attempting to capitalize on disaffection toward the extremes, something polls do not guarantee they will achieve.
The Now Colombia (¡Ahora Colombia!) coalition, which brings together parties such as New Liberalism, the Christian party MIRA, and Dignity and Commitment (Dignidad & Compromiso), presented an open Senate list in which voters can individually choose their preferred candidates on the same ballot.
It is headed by regional leader Juan Sebastian Gomez, who seeks to project a moderate voice articulating proposals focused on social development, political conciliation, and decentralization. His challenge is to shape a discourse with its own voice that voters do not perceive as merely supporting the right or the left after the elections.
Another relevant center-left coalition is that formed by Green Alliance and On the Move (En Marcha), whose lead candidate is Luis Eduardo “Lucho” Garzon, a veteran of progressive politics and former mayor of Bogota, who insists on a pragmatic, reformist agenda far removed from personality cults. Poll results also do not favor this option on paper.
Finally, traditional parties are also competing for space from the center. The Colombian Liberal Party, with an open list, positioned Congress President Lidio Garcia at the top, alongside historic figures such as Fabio Raul Amin and the controversial former governor of Santander Richard Aguilar — a member of the Aguilar political clan — in an attempt to regain prominence after years of electoral ups and downs.
But this type of open list also exposes internal tensions and the challenge of balancing grassroots representativeness with national strategy. The latest polls predict a significant decline in electoral support for one of Colombia’s two major traditional parties — along with the Conservative Party — players in Colombian politics for 150 years.
If these poor forecasts are confirmed, the leadership of the organization — in the hands of former President Cesar Gaviria, strongly tilted to the right and openly opposed to the Petro government — could fracture further and deepen the profound internal divisions of a party that has failed to achieve a unified position on a political board where it has long been a minor player.
Open and closed lists: a persistent electoral debate
One of the most debated features of these elections is the use of open and closed lists. Closed lists, such as those presented by the Historic Pact and the Democratic Center, place candidates in an order defined by party leadership and reduce voters’ ability to alter that order. This system favors internal discipline but has also been criticized for limiting the individual voice of the voter.
By contrast, parties such as the Liberal Party, Radical Change, and coalitions such as Now Colombia opted for open lists, allowing voters to favor specific candidates within the slate.
This mechanism empowers voters and can benefit lesser-known figures with territorial bases, although it can also fragment the vote and weaken party cohesion, in addition to facilitating vote-buying, a practice as illegal as it is widespread, especially in rural areas where political clans and extreme population needs predominate.
As Colombia prepares to vote this Sunday, March 8, the debate over representation, legitimacy, leadership, and national project has intensified.
More than 3,000 candidates hope to turn their campaigns into seats, but the result will also be a barometer of the country’s political direction in the coming years, with a Congress that will define not only laws, but the alliances that will shape the 2026 presidential elections.