The political landscape of Peru has undergone a significant shift following the general elections held on Sunday, April 12, 2026. A wave of established political figures, including high-profile lawmakers and former government officials, failed to secure a seat in the upcoming 2026-2031 Congress. According to the rapid count by Datum for América Televisión and early results from the Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales (ONPE), several prominent names who sought re-election were rejected by the electorate.
Among the most notable losses are Sigrid Bazán, Alejandro Cavero, and Jorge Montoya, along with several candidates who attempted to leverage family legacies or previous executive experience. This collective failure to reach the threshold for the next legislative period reflects a volatile voter sentiment and a challenging environment for candidates running under fragmented alliances or parties struggling to meet the 5% electoral threshold.
The results indicate a broader trend of instability for established parties. For many of these politicians, the loss is not merely a personal defeat but a symptom of the declining influence of the political vehicles they chose for this cycle. As the country prepares for the second round of the presidential race, the absence of these familiar faces in the next parliament suggests a reconfiguration of power dynamics in Lima.
High-Profile Defeats and the Cost of Party Shifts
Jorge Montoya, who entered the previous quinquennium as the most voted congressman with 138,231 votes, saw his momentum collapse. Montoya’s path to this defeat began in May 2024, when he resigned from Renovación Popular due to disagreements with the party’s internal regulations, which he claimed concentrated excessive power in the hands of leader Rafael López Aliaga. For the 2026 cycle, Montoya joined the SíCreo party, supporting Carlos Espá’s presidential bid. However, preliminary data shows SíCreo trailing significantly in the “Others” category, facing a high probability of losing its official registration for failing to meet the electoral threshold.
Similarly, Sigrid Bazán, who previously entered Parliament with over 44,000 votes via Juntos por el Perú, attempted a return as a deputy. After moving to the Bloque Democrático Popular and eventually joining the Venceremos alliance—which included Voces del Pueblo and supported presidential candidate Ronald Atencio—Bazán failed to secure a seat. Following the rapid count, she took to social media to address her supporters.
Orgullosa de haber postulado de manera principista y orgánica con @RonaldAtencio 😊✌🏼Se dio todo y esa es nuestra mayor victoria. Ahora toca cerrar filas contra el Pakto Mafioso para esta segunda vuelta. Y por supuesto, finalizar nuestra gestión de manera impecable, como hemos…
— Sigrid Bazán (@sigridbazan) April 13, 2026
Alejandro Cavero too failed to maintain his position. Cavero, who made history in 2021 as the second-youngest congressman elected—trailing only Rosangella Barbarán—had a long trajectory in youth politics, having collaborated with Pedro Pablo Kuczynski’s 2011 campaign at age 18. Despite his early rise with Avanza País, the 2026 electorate did not renew its confidence in his candidacy.
Dynastic Ambitions and Executive Failures
The elections also served as a barrier for those attempting to enter politics through family lineage or previous ministerial roles. Carla García, the daughter of the late former president Alan García, made her political debut by heading the Senate list for the Partido Aprista. Despite the prestige of the party’s history, García’s candidacy was hampered by admissions in a podcast with Milagros Leiva that she had not read the government plan of her party’s presidential candidate, Enrique Valderrama. Preliminary results suggest the Apra party may now face a grueling process to seek re-registration.
The “political children” of other leaders also fared poorly. Yessenia Lozano, often described as the political daughter of César Acuña, sought a deputy seat with Alianza para el Progreso (APP). Lozano’s campaign was shadowed by a ruling from the Jurado Electoral Especial (JEE) of Lima Centro 1, which determined she violated electoral neutrality by displaying images of Acuña and party logos in her congressional office while serving as head of the Centro de Modalidades Formativas.
The failure extended to former ministers from the administration of Dina Boluarte (2022-2025). Juan José Santiváñez, who held the portfolios of Interior and Justice, and César Vásquez, former Health Minister, both failed to secure seats. They were joined in defeat by several current lawmakers running for the Senate under César Acuña’s party, including Lady Camones, Magaly Ruiz, Luis Kamiche, and Jorge Marticorena.
Summary of Key Political Losses (2026 Elections)
| Candidate | Party/Alliance | Target Position | Previous Role/Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jorge Montoya | SíCreo | Congress | Most voted congressman (previous term) |
| Sigrid Bazán | Venceremos | Deputy | Former Juntos por el Perú member | Alejandro Cavero | Avanza País | Congress | Second youngest congressman in 2021 |
| Carla García | Partido Aprista | Senator | Daughter of Alan García |
| Pedro Pablo Kuczynski | Fuerza y Libertad | Senator | Former President (2016-2018) |
The Wider Ripple Effect: Former Presidents and Outsiders
The loss of a seat was not limited to sitting lawmakers. Former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (PPK) attempted a return to the legislative branch as a Senator under the Fuerza y Libertad alliance, led by Fiorella Molinelli. He was joined in this unsuccessful bid by former congressman Gilbert Violeta, who ran as a deputy for the same alliance.
Other figures from the public eye also struggled to translate visibility into votes. Angela Ccanto, a communicator who ran as “Victoria Ccanto” for the Partido Democrático Federal, failed to reach her goal. Her campaign was marked by controversies regarding the accuracy of her claims about the Venezuelan population in Peru, which were flagged as imprecise by PeruCheck. Similarly, Diego Pomareda, a constitutional law professor from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP), failed to secure a deputy seat while heading the list for Libertad Popular, the party of presidential candidate Rafael Belaunde Llosa.
Finally, the entertainment sector’s foray into politics saw limited success, as former comic dancer Sara Manrique failed to win a deputy seat for País para Todos, the party associated with comedian Carlos Álvarez.
As the final counts are processed by the Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE), the primary focus now shifts to the presidential runoff. For the defeated candidates, the immediate future involves the conclusion of their current mandates and, for some, a legal battle to keep their political parties registered. The next official checkpoint will be the certification of the final tally by the ONPE, which will formally confirm the composition of the 2026-2031 Congress.
We invite our readers to share their perspectives on these results in the comments section and share this report with their networks to continue the conversation on Peru’s political future.
