Daniel Noboa stunned voters when, with only a brief stint as a lawmaker and no established political machinery, he outperformed several presidential candidates in a snap election and advanced to a runoff against the protegee of Ecuador’s most influential president this century.

Indigenous leader Leonidas Iza, who led protests that nearly unseated Noboa’s predecessor, was tallying 5.26% of the votes, while Andrea Gonzalez, once the vice presidential candidate for an assassinated anti-corruption crusader, won 2.7%.

Noboa, first elected in 2023 to finish out his predecessor's term, says his deployment of the military on the streets and within prisons, among other measures, has reduced violent deaths by 15%, led to a drastic fall in prison violence, and facilitated the capture of major gang leaders.