Meet Claudia López: Bogotá’s First Lesbian Mayor And Current Colombian Presidential Candidate
If she wins, López would become Colombia’s first female president and only the third openly lesbian head of government globally.
Colombian politician Claudia López, 55, has officially launched her independent bid for the May 31, 2026 presidential election. Best known as the first woman and first openly LGBTQ mayor of Bogotá, López brings a progressive vision and spirit to the national stage.
López’s candidacy was publicly kicked off on June 3, 2025, via social media: “We begin today and we will win in a year,” she proclaimed, signaling confidence in her grassroots campaign strategy. She’s already secured the 672,000 signatures needed to officially qualify, and pledges to rely on small donations and grass-roots, citizen involvement rather than big-party donors and influence.
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Her political rise is rooted in both personal courage and public service. López first made headlines as a journalist and political scientist, exposing corruption at high levels. After earning her PhD in political science from Northwestern University, she returned to Colombia and won a Senate seat in 2014 as part of the Green Alliance, later running as its vice-presidential candidate in 2018.
Her breakthrough moment came on October 27, 2019, when she was elected Bogotá’s mayor. Just weeks before taking office, López married her longtime partner, Colombian Senator Angélica Lozano Correa, in a civil ceremony that underscored her openness and pride.
That union also reflects the evolving face of Colombian politics. As Northwestern Magazine’s Alejandra Quintero observed, her mayoral campaign “infused her signature optimism, warmth and tolerance” into a system steeped in corruption. And advocacy groups praised her election as evidence that the “lavender ceiling was shattered in Colombia”.
Throughout, López has emphasized healing Colombia’s polarization and rebuilding trust. As she told the Washington Blade, “We need to listen to each other again, we need to have a coffee with each other again, we need to touch each other’s skin.” It’s a strikingly soft, human-centered message in such a fragmented political landscape.
If she wins, López would become Colombia’s first female president and only the third openly lesbian head of government globally, after Iceland’s Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir and Serbia’s Ana Brnabić. Her campaign combines a legacy of anti-corruption, inclusive representation, and bold personal authenticity.
With her track record, she’s a woman worth watching.
