The path to the 2026 presidential election took shape in December 2025, when the Democratic Center established its most visible ticket to run for the House of Representatives from Nariño. After an internal consultation, the party announced Paloma Valencia as its candidate, after winning against María Fernanda Cabal and Paola Holguín in a contest that put Uribism’s main bets on the table for the next political cycle.
Valencia reaches this stage with a solid career in Congress and an academic profile that characterizes his political style. She is a lawyer and philosopher from the Universidad de los Andes, specializing in economics and a master’s degree in creative writing from New York University. This combination of technical training and intellectual vocation is a constant in his public discourse and legislative performance.
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His Senate career began in 2014 and spanned three consecutive terms. During these years, he promoted initiatives focused on economic revitalization, poverty reduction, government spending austerity, social investment, environmental protection and strengthening the judiciary. Three of these projects have managed to become Laws of the Republic, one of the key achievements that his political team usually highlights.
Before this new goal, Valencia had already sought the presidency of Colombia. In 2018, she was a pre-candidate and established herself as one of the most visible voices of the Democratic Center, especially during the civil resistance movement that supported the No vote in the referendum on the peace agreement with the FARC. Since then, his name has been associated with a hard line on security and public order issues.
In Congress, he served on the First Commission, the Human Rights Commission, and the Peace Commission, and currently chairs the Senate Information Commission. In addition, it actively advocates for the rights of children and young people who are victims of sexual violence in armed conflict and is a constant ally of the agricultural sector, with a focus on supporting panel and coffee producers.
Paloma Valencia was born in Popayán and belongs to a family with historical influence in politics and science. She is the granddaughter of former president Guillermo León Valencia and Mario Laserna, founder of the Universidad de los Andes. Before entering the legislature, he worked in the attorney general’s office and the national planning department and was a columnist and political analyst in media outlets such as The spectator, The country And Blu radio.
Already as a presidential candidate, Valencia began to outline her proposals in various scenarios. Regarding security, he focused on the situation in regions such as Cauca, where he stated: “It pains me very much that the Caucasians are experiencing a merciless war.” His approach is based on preventing the country from “returning to the past” and is based on a strategy he calls “r”: “Reducing incomes of illegals, strengthening our public authority and winning back communities.”
The energy sector also occupies a central place on his agenda. Valencia doubts that users will cover losses from the system and has stated that this obligation would be removed in a possible government of his. As he explained, part of the state budget would be allocated to alleviating these costs and creating incentives to improve distribution networks. In addition, a reform of the electricity transmission system is proposed to bring new energy, mainly water, to the entire country and diversify the matrix, including oil, gas, coal and water resources. In this regard, he proposed “a great program to move to the latest generation equipment that will save money and avoid so many costs for all this.”
In the health sector, the senator criticized the leadership of Gustavo Petro’s government and linked the deterioration of the system to the growing indebtedness of clinics and hospitals. “When clinics and hospitals don’t get paid, they start closing services,” she said, citing the financial issues that she said directly impact patient care.
In education, its position suggests a demand-side subsidy model. Valencia noted that the state must subsidize the quality of education and allow students and families to make the final decision about where to study. A vision that could also be applied to the debate about Icetex and access to higher education.
With this series of proposals, Paloma Valencia officially enters the 2026 presidential race, with a speech focused on security, economy, energy, health and education, and with the intention of consolidating the Democratic Center as one of the leading forces in the next electoral debate in Colombia.
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