Former president Alvaro Uribe’s Democratic Center (Dentro Democratico – CD) party was particularly successful in Bogota, home territory of his political rival, President Juan Manuel Santos.
Bogota’s votes in House election
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Uribe’s party received 317,898 (17.34%) of the House of Representative votes and in turn received 5 seats of the chamber’s 18 seats reserved for the capital district.
The Liberal party came in second with 191,395 (10.44%) and third went to the Green Alliance with 164,403 (8.96%) votes give the two parties 3 seats each.
The U Party, Santos’ own and currently the biggest party in the Senate, reached no more than 8.73% of the votes in the capital. The party of another prominent Bogota politician and Santos’ running mate in May’s presidential election, German Vargas, received only 5.45% of the Bogota votes in an apparent rejection of the local political elite.
The Senate vote in Bogota was even more successful for Uribe’s party. The party received 373,798 (20.27%) of the senate votes nearly double the amount of the Liberal party in second (11.12%).
Bogota lies within the state of Cundinamarca which has 7 House seats assigned. The CD gained one seat in Cundinamarca as did Colombia’s Liberal and Conservative parties.
Current president Juan Manuel Santos’ U party gained 2 seats with 112,298 (15.27%) along with the Party for Radical Change 116,025 (15.77%).
Bogota is a strategically important locality for the elections with a total registered electorate of over 5 million (over a third of the 2014 turnout). Uribe and his team will no doubt look to use their newly gained congressional influence as a platform to promote Ivan Zuluaga, his party’s candidate for the presidential elections which begin on May 25th.
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Sources
- Así quedó la Cámara de Representantes para Bogotá y Cundinamarca (Caracol)
- Colombia National Registry Office
