Guatemalans went to the polls on Sunday to pick a new president, days after the previous president resigned amid an investigation into fraud and corruption. The winner, results released Monday indicate, is Jimmy Morales, a comic actor who once played a cowboy who accidentally ended up president. The case of life imitating art isn't a done deal, though. Morales, 42, won just 24 percent of the vote, with 98 percent of results tallied, meaning there will be a runoff election on Oct. 25.
Morales' first place showing was unexpected. It's not clear if he will face conservative businessman Manuel Baldizón or Sandra Torres, a left-leaning former first lady, in the second round. Both of them earned just over 19 percent of the vote, and Torres is ahead by about 5,000 votes, but analysts expect a partial recount. Baldizón had long been expected to succeed disgraced former President Otto Perez Molina, and was leading in the polls until recently; his right-wing party supported Perez Molina up until days before he resigned last week. Morales, on the other hand, ran on the platform "Neither corrupt or a thief," and his lack of political experience is seen as a political plus in this anti-establishment moment. "The electorate has been searching for a political virgin, and that virgin is Jimmy Morales," economist and journalist Enrique "Quique" Godoy, tells The Wall Street Journal.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Mitch McConnell won't seek reelectionSpeed Read The longest-serving Senate party leader is retiring
-
Trump reportedly wants to take over US Postal ServiceSpeed Read President Trump is making plans to disband the leadership of USPS and absorb the agency into his administration
-
Trump seeks to end New York's congestion pricingSpeed Read The MTA quickly filed a lawsuit to stop the move
-
Trump officials try to reverse DOGE-led firingsSpeed Read Mass firings by Elon Musk's team have included employees working on the H5N1 bird flu epidemic and US nuclear weapons programs
-
Trump blames Ukraine for war after US-Russia talksSpeed Read The US and Russia have agreed to work together on ending the Ukraine war — but President Trump has flipped America's approach
-
Musk's DOGE seeks access to IRS, Social Security filesSpeed Read If cleared, the Department of Government Efficiency would have access to tax returns, bank records and other highly personal information about most Americans
-
Senate confirms RFK Jr. as health secretarySpeed Read The noted vaccine skeptic is now in charge of America's massive public health system
-
Trump lays out plans for broad 'reciprocal' tariffsSpeed Read Tariffs imposed on countries that are deemed to be treating the US unfairly could ignite a global trade war and worsen American inflation
