Colombian Capital Elects First Female Mayor
Claudia Lopez, the first elected female mayor in Bogota, Colombia. (Wikimedia)
Citizens of Bogotá elected Claudia Lopez as mayor on October 27 for the 2020-2024 term. The election has gone down in history as the first time a female and openly gay candidate has been elected for mayorship in the Colombian capital.
Claudia Lopez is a 49-year-old journalist-turned-politician with a doctorate in political science from Northwestern University in Chicago. During her time as an analyst, she made waves for exposing corruption schemes and critiquing right-wing politicians. As a member of the Green Alliance, she identifies with the center-left. Her mayoral campaign was based on an anti-corruption platform in which she promised to seek equality for minority communities and women, groups she has passionately advocated for throughout her career. Her policies include an increase in the police force, strong opposition to child labor, and the improvement of educational opportunities for people over the age of 45Lopez won with 35.2 percent of the vote. Carlos Galan, the runner-up, received 32 percent.
Lopez’s election highlights the country’s desire for change on all fronts as President Ivan Duque’s first year in government has been marked by drastic discontent. After having served his first hundred days, only 27.2 percent approved of his performance, which is a drastic drop from the 53 percent recorded a few days after he took office. Accordingly, the Democratic Centre’s candidate, Miguel Uribe, came in last place in the Bogotá mayoral elections.
Lopez’s victory marks the country’s shift away from the elite families who have controlled Colombian politics for decades. Lopez, a public schoolteacher’s daughter and the oldest of six siblings, bears no famous last name or inheritance. As the Washington Post explains, she held several jobs from a young age in order to help support her family because money was lacking. As she said after she was declared mayor-elect, “this time, a woman emerging from a modest household, like that of most Colombians, has won.”
Lopez’s position as a woman in a country with a deeply rooted “macho” culture like Colombia also reveals the citizens’ search for a fresh start and provides a source of inspiration for many women who have been made to feel powerless. For example, in this round of elections, only ten percent of the candidates running for office were women, meaning that even fewer will end up in positions of power. Hence, it is an important feat for a woman to have finally become mayor of the capital city. As French feminist Florence Thomas, professor at the National University in Colombia, wrote for El Tiempo, “the fact that a woman can reach the second most important office in Colombia will most likely have an incredible impact on the life of a young lower or middle class woman. Perhaps knowing Claudia’s trajectory, she will understand that it is also possible for her to become mayor, and maybe even president someday.”
As an openly gay candidate in a conservative society, Lopez’s victory further showcases Bogotans’ increasing willingness to embrace liberal ideas.
These elections also marked the first time that the youth was decisive in the selection process. A wide margin of Lopez’s voters were first-timers. Lopez’s campaign has increased the enthusiasm of young voters and minorities. By connecting them with the electoral side of politics, she has given them hope for a bright future in which change will be possible and in which their voices will be heard.