Leftist Sanchez takes lead in polarized Peru election

LIMA - Leftist congressman Roberto Sanchez took a slim lead against conservative Keiko Fujimori in Peru's presidential race on Monday as official vote-counting continued into a second day, with a final result potentially weeks away.

With about 94.9% of votes tallied, Sanchez rose to 50.10%, while Fujimori dropped to 49.90%.

Most voters who cast ballots in the election on Sunday said they were concerned about crime and the economy, and a rightward shift similar that to seen in other recent Latin American contests had been widely predicted.

Fujimori led early results and exit polls, but Sanchez has been gaining ground since Sunday night as ballots from Peru's rural regions are counted.

Markets and the local Sol currency dipped earlier on Monday as votes for Sanchez rose, but have since steadied, with Fujimori expected to benefit from pending foreign ballots.

Sanchez, a minister under jailed ex-President Pedro Castillo, has aimed to emulate Castillo's rural appeal, even wearing the former leader's wide-brimmed cowboy hat throughout the campaign.

Aside from reforming the constitution, Sanchez has proposed pardoning Castillo - serving an 11-year prison sentence after attempting to dissolve Congress in 2022 - imposing windfall taxes, a wealth tax and reforming mining concessions.

The proposals have drawn support from Peru's vast rural regions, including the country's increasingly powerful informal mining sector, but have unsettled investors.

In a note before the election, Fitch said a "Sanchez win would raise uncertainty about taxation, royalties, contract stability and state intervention."

Peru is the world's third-largest copper producer and a major producer of gold, silver and zinc.

"We expect pressure on Peruvian markets until the vote is finalized," said Alexander Robey, a portfolio manager of emerging market debt at Allianz Global Investors. "Specifically, if Roberto Sanchez wins, we expect investors to incorporate more risk premium – wider credit spreads, higher local bond yield and a weaker Peruvian Sol."

FUJIMORI ON FOURTH TRY

Fujimori, appearing in her fourth presidential runoff, called for patience as she watched an early lead dwindle.

"We're going to wait until the last (vote) and that's what I hope all Peruvians do," Fujimori said outside her home in Lima on Monday. Several international polling stations have yet to be counted that are expected to favor Fujimori.

Sanchez, speaking to reporters at Congress, said he was "confident and optimistic, but we'll wait for 100% of the vote. What comes next is working for the country because Peru's political instability needs to stop."

Peru's ONPE electoral authority said a full count was expected to be completed by July.

Fujimori had previously distanced herself from her father, Alberto Fujimori, Peru's authoritarian, tough-on-crime former president who was later jailed for human rights abuses. But with voters overwhelmingly concerned with crime this election, Fujimori has since leaned into his legacy.

Jo-Marie Burt, a visiting professor at Princeton University's program in Latin American studies, said that more than reflecting Sanchez's appeal, the result shows the lasting divisiveness and resentment towards the Fujimori name.

"The anti-Fujimori coalition that kept her out of office seemed weakened in recent years," Burt said. "But it seems like it may have come together just enough to prevent her victory for a fourth time."

The winner of the election will become Peru's ninth president in the past decade, and Congress has removed three presidents in the past five years.

With such a tight race and both candidates echoing divisive former presidents, Burt said the country's political fragmentation was likely to continue.

"Either way, Peru is headed into another five years of turbulence, political conflict, and instability," Burt said.

(Reporting by Alexander Villegas, Marco Aquino and Aida Pelaez-Fernandez; Additional reporting by Lucinda Elliott and Karin Strohecker; Editing by Alex Richardson and Rosalba O'Brien)

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published June 8, 2026 at 8:42 PM.