Liberia's next president is former soccer star George Weah

George Weah.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Abbas Dulleh)

Having received 61.5 percent of the vote, former soccer star George Weah is the winner of Liberia's presidential run-off election.

Weah, who grew up in a slum in Monrovia, will be sworn in next month. He was up against Vice President Joseph Boakai, and will succeed incumbent Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Weah first ran for president in 2005, winning the first round but losing in the second to Johnson Sirleaf. This time, his running mate was a surprising choice: Jewel Howard-Taylor, whose ex-husband is former Liberian President Charles Taylor, now serving time in prison for war crimes in Sierra Leone.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.