The legislative elections held this Sunday in Colombia brought several influencers to Congress who had spent years building audiences on social media. TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube became platforms from which some content creators managed to project their candidacies and transform their digital popularity into votes.
However, the phenomenon also showed its limits. Although several influencers won seats in the Senate or the House of Representatives, other names with millions of followers did not obtain enough support at the polls and were left out of the new Congress.
Influencers who won seats in the Colombian Congress
Among the most notable cases is that of political YouTuber Walter Rodriguez Chaparro, known on social media as Wally. The content creator, who for years has published videos analyzing and criticizing politics on digital platforms, secured a seat in the Senate on the list of the Historic Pact, the left-wing coalition that supports President Gustavo Petro and now backs the presidential prospects of Ivan Cepeda. His election represents one of the clearest examples of the leap from digital activism into institutional politics.
Wally’s campaign relied heavily on social media, where he already had a community of followers who amplified his messages during the electoral contest. On his platforms, the new senator has for years shared opinions about national politics, criticisms of the opposition, and messages supporting the political project of Petrismo.
Other influencers linked to the same political sector also secured a seat inthe Colombian Congress. Among them are content creators such as Lalis, Andres Monroy, and Hernan Muriel, who became known on social media by commenting on the country’s political and social developments. Their candidacies reflect the growing interest of parties in incorporating profiles with digital presence into their electoral lists.
During the campaign, these candidates brought into the electoral arena the style that made them popular on the internet. Short videos, live streams, and direct posts aimed at their followers became key tools for spreading proposals and mobilizing voters, especially among younger audiences.
The phenomenon is not entirely new in Colombia, but in these elections, it reached a larger scale. Dozens of influencers tried to make the jump into formal politics, driven by the visibility offered by social media and by the interest of political parties in connecting with digital audiences.
Those who did not achieve their goal
Not all influencers who entered politics managed to translate their popularity into votes. Some of the best-known influencers on digital platforms ended up outside Congress after failing to obtain the number of votes required to secure a seat.
One of the most widely discussed cases was that of content creator Felipe Saruma. Despite having millions of followers on social media and great visibility during the campaign, the influencer did not secure enough votes to enter the Senate. His result reignited the debate over the extent to which digital popularity can translate into real electoral support.
A similar situation was experienced by the streamer known as Pechy Players, whose real name is Edwin Javier Brito Garciiia. Although his candidacy generated attention on social media and managed to mobilize part of his audience, the final number of votes did not allow him to secure a seat in Congress.
Sports commentator Javier Fernandez, popularly known as “The Goal Singer” (Cantante del Gol, in Spanish) was also left out. The journalist, a very well-known figure on Colombian television, was running for the Senate but did not rank among the most voted candidates on his list.
The electoral outcome made clear that influence on the internet does not guarantee success at the polls. Although social media allows the building of large communities and the amplification of political messages, the vote still depends on factors such as party structures, regional alliances, and electoral mobilization capacity.
Even so, the presence of influencers in Congress confirms that digital platforms have become a new arena for political competition. In a country where millions of citizens consume information and opinion through social media, the leap of these influencers to the Colombian Congress seems to mark only the beginning of a trend that could consolidate in future elections.