Laura Gamba
30 June 2026•Update: 30 June 2026
Keiko Sofia Fujimori Higuchi has been elected the new president of Peru after edging out Roberto Sanchez of the Juntos por el Peru coalition.
The official declaration marks the conclusion of one of the most closely contested presidential elections in Peru’s modern history.
Peru’s National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) finished tallying 100% of the 92,766 electoral minutes Monday, following weeks of meticulous reviews of contested ballots. The final count reveals an incredibly tight margin between the two candidates, separating them by a mere 49,641 votes.
Fujimori, 51, has secured the mandate to lead the Andean nation for the 2026 - 2031 constitutional term. The victory represents a political redemption after four consecutive presidential campaigns, three runoff defeats, more than 500 days spent in pretrial detention and a powerful wave of anti-Fujimori sentiment that for years seemed insurmountable,
Fujimori’s political trajectory began in 1994, when, at just 19, she assumed the ceremonial role of first lady following a high-profile separation of her parents, Susana Higuchi and then-President Alberto Fujimori.
While the early exposure shaped her political career, it also tethered her to a complex political legacy: her father was later sentenced to 25 years in prison for corruption and crimes against humanity.
In 2011, she launched her first presidential bid at age 36 under the Fuerza 2011 banner, falling in the runoff. In 2016, she entered the race as a heavy favorite, securing 39.9% in the first round, but was narrowly defeated in the runoff by conservative banker Pedro Pablo Kuczynski by 41,000 votes. In 2021, she was plagued by the "Cocktails" campaign finance scandal and periods of pretrial detention. She squeezed into the runoff with just 13% of the first-round vote, ultimately losing to Pedro Castillo by tenths of a percentage point.
Born in Lima on May 25, 1975, Fujimori holds a degree in Business Administration from Boston University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Columbia University. She founded her conservative Fuerza Popular party in 2009. During her tenure as a member of Congress from 2006 - 2011, she made history by garnering 602,869 individual votes, the highest recorded for a legislator up to that point.
Peruvian law dictates that Fujimori will be inaugurated July 28. She becomes the first woman ever elected to the presidency, and the first candidate to claim the office after four attempts.
She will govern alongside First Vice President Luis Galarreta Velarde, a former president of Congress, and Second Vice President Miguel Angel Torres Morales, a prominent constitutional attorney and former lawmaker.
