Keiko Fujimori takes lead in Peru presidential runoff, nears victory

Keiko Fujimori moved into an insurmountable lead in Peru’s presidential runoff, putting the four-time presidential hopeful on track to become president despite years of polarization around the Fujimori family name. With 50.11% of the vote, she led leftist rival Roberto Sanchez by 43,386 votes, while only 40,213 potential votes remained to be counted.

The official tally later put Fujimori at 50.111% and Sanchez at 49.889%, a margin of about 40,600 votes once the count reached 9,190,889 votes for Fujimori and 9,150,289 for Sanchez. Peru’s ONPE electoral authority said the count was about 99.7% complete, with only a small number of actas still under review or in transit, but the winner had not yet been formally declared. The electoral authority said the announcement would come in mid-July, leaving the result technically pending even as the race appeared decided.

Sanchez said he would not recognize the runoff result, and he tied that stance to a demand to annul votes cast by Peruvians abroad. Peru’s National Electoral Jury rejected that request after the initial count finished, and the review of contested ballots continued. The dispute raised the possibility of a prolonged political fight after one of the closest presidential contests in Peru’s history.

The runoff, held on June 7, 2026, followed a first round on April 12. It unfolded against a backdrop of severe instability: Peru has gone through eight presidents in as many years and is on track to elect its ninth president in a decade. Persistent inequality between Lima and rural regions, public disillusionment with politicians, and a sharp focus on crime and order shaped the campaign.

Fujimori, the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, has long tried to distance herself from her father’s legacy, but in this campaign she leaned into it as she cast herself as the candidate best able to restore stability. Her position at the top of the count would strengthen a broader rightward shift in Latin America and return a deeply polarizing political name to the center of Peru’s institutions. If Sanchez keeps contesting the count, Peru could enter another stretch of uncertainty before a new government is fully established.