Keiko Fujimori has been officially declared the winner of Peru's presidential runoff election, according to the country's electoral authorities. The conservative candidate secured victory in a closely contested race that polls predicted would be extremely tight, with final results showing a narrow margin between the two candidates.
Fujimori's win marks her fourth attempt at the presidency. She previously lost elections in 2011, 2016, and 2021. Her main opponent in the runoff was Roberto Sánchez, a leftist congressman and former trade and tourism minister who had served under populist president Pedro Castillo.
The election took place amid significant challenges facing Peru. The country has experienced chronic political instability, with eight presidents serving since July 2016. Only three of those were elected to office. Rising crime rates, corruption scandals, and widespread voter disillusionment have created a difficult political environment.
Fujimori, the daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori who led Peru from 1990 to 2000, has campaigned on a tough-on-crime platform. She has capitalized on her father's reputation for an iron fist approach to governance, promising to address Peru's escalating extortion and murder rates. However, her candidacy carries the weight of her father's legacy. Alberto Fujimori spent 16 years in jail for authorizing kidnappings and murders during his government's "war against terrorism" before his death in 2024.
Sánchez had positioned himself as the heir to Pedro Castillo's leftist agenda. Castillo was ousted in December 2022 after attempting to dissolve congress and rule by decree. In November 2025, Castillo was sentenced to 11 years and five months in jail for rebellion. Sánchez pledged to free Castillo and draft a new constitution, though he backed down from an earlier promise to remove the central bank's head.
The campaign reflected deep divisions within Peru. Polls showed the candidates were statistically tied before the election, with Sánchez at 43.8 percent and Fujimori at 43.2 percent according to one survey. The race represented a polarized left-right choice for voters exhausted by political turmoil.
Voter engagement remained problematic. More than 6 million Peruvians did not vote in the first round in April despite fines for abstention. Another 3 million cast blank or spoiled ballots in protest. Experts attributed the discontent to a broader loss of faith in political institutions.
According to Santiago Pedraglio, a sociologist at Lima's Pontifical Catholic University, "Politicians have lost a lot of credibility, and very few people trust them any more." He noted that Peru's mandatory voting system was one of the few factors preventing even higher abstention rates.
Fujimori's victory adds Peru to a list of Latin American nations that have elected conservative leaders in recent electoral cycles.