TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) – With about votes from about 34% of polling places counted in Honduras, preliminary and partial results showed conservative candidates Nasry Asfura and Salvador Nasralla leading the presidential contest Sunday and the governing party trailing.
The National Electoral Council said that Asfura of the National Party had 530,073 votes in early counting, while Nasralla, of the conservative Liberal Party, had about 506,316. Rixi Moncada of the democratic socialist LIBRE or Liberty and Re-foundation party trailed with 255,972. The Council did not announce the total number of votes cast.
Asfura, the 67-year-old former Tegucigalpa mayor, ran as a pragmatic politician, pointing to his popular infrastructure projects in the capital.
Just days before the vote, U.S. President Donald Trump endorsed him, saying he would fight “narco-communists” with the United States and was the only Honduran candidate his administration would work with.
Nasralla, a 72-year-old sportscaster, has campaigned with various parties over the years and even joined the ticket of current President Xiomara Castro four years ago. But he continued to cast himself as an outsider and his central campaign issue has remained rooting out corruption.
Trump lashed out at Nasralla and Moncada just days before the vote, warning they could lead Honduras down the same path as Venezuela.
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