Luisa Gonzalez Hopes to Win Runoff in Ecuador

Presidential candidate Luisa Gonzalez, Feb. 9, 2025. X/ @Danielsalcan_

February 10, 2025 Hour: 7:57 am

‘They represent fear, and we represent hope. Today, hope has triumphed at the polls,’ the Citizen Revolution leader said.

On Sunday night, Luisa Gonzalez, the presidential candidate for Ecuador’s opposition party Citizen Revolution, expressed confidence in defeating incumbent President Daniel Noboa in the runoff election scheduled for April 13.

“We are going to win,” declared the presidential hopeful in a speech delivered in Quito to her supporters, who responded with the chant: “Luisa president!, Luisa president!, Luisa president!”

The National Electoral Council (CNE) released preliminary figures from the vote count of the election held this Sunday. With 78.72 percent of the votes tallied, Noboa secured 44.47 percent of the votes, while Gonzalez obtained 44.12 percent. The remaining votes were distributed among the other 14 presidential candidates who participated in the election.

In her speech to the RC supporters, Gonzalez accused the Ecuadorian government of using public resources to promote Noboa’s candidacy.

Luisa Gonzalez agradece a su militancia y a quienes le confiaron su voto, felicita a Leonidas Iza por la votación que obtuvo y hace un llamado a todos los ecuatorianos a reconstruir el país juntos. pic.twitter.com/sjD5n33rQR
— Daniel Salcan (@Danielsalcan_) February 10, 2025

The text reads, “Luisa Gonzalez thanks her militants and those who entrusted her with their vote. She congratulates Leonidas Iza for the vote he obtained and calls on all Ecuadorians to rebuild the country together.”

“More than US$100 million was spent on the campaign and not reported to the CNE,” the leftist politician claimed and compared her supporters to the forces of the right.

“They represent fear, and we represent hope. Today, hope has triumphed at the polls. I belong to this homeland that we will build together with you. We will win and govern for 18 million Ecuadorians. Towards victory always, comrades!” Gonzalez declared.

Although Noboa came in first by a very narrow margin, his apparent victory highlighted the limits of the right-wing forces’ ability to connect in a country plagued by crime, violence, unemployment, and poverty.

On Sunday night, the president, who is seeking re-election, did not make any statements to the press nor attend a meeting at a luxury hotel where he was supposedly going to celebrate his victory. Around midnight, his ministers left the venue without commenting on the situation.