Senator Rodrigo Paz, the surprise top finisher in Bolivia's first-round presidential election, spent years traveling the country, posting hundreds of social media videos and honing his image like a fu

Bolivia heads into an Oct. 19 runoff between centrist Rodrigo Paz Pereira and right-wing ex-president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga after nearly 20 years of socialist rule.

Now, on October 19, Bolivians will hold presidential runoff for the first time—an option only introduced in the 2009 Constitution. As voters prepare to pick their next president, AS/COA online looks at dark horse candidate Paz, the collapse of MAS, and the composition of the next national legislature.

Early official results in Bolivia showed the centrist Rodrigo Paz of the Christian Democratic Party leading Sunday's presidential race, with a surprise 32.04% of the vote according to the country's electoral tribunal.

Bolivia is set to elect a non-left wing president after nearly two decades of near-continuous rule by the incumbent socialist party, according to official preliminary results. Senator Rodrigo Paz Pereira and former president Jorge Quiroga came in first and second place respectively in Sunday's presidential elections.

A dark horse centrist, Sen. Rodrigo Paz, drew more votes than the right-wing front-runners, although not enough to secure an outright victory, early results showed.

Early exit polls in Bolivia's presidential election on Sunday showed Centrist Senator Rodrigo Paz of the Christian Democratic Party leading, with the ruling Movement for Socialism party on track to suffer its worst electoral defeat in a generation.

Bolivia is headed to a presidential run-off election between a center-right politician and a right-wing candidate after voters on Sunday rejected another term of the Movement for Socialism.

STORY: Early official results in Bolivia show the country's ruling leftists on track for their worst defeat in a generation.Instead the electoral tribunal says centrist senator Rodrigo Paz of the Christian Democratic Party is leading the election late Sunday.

Centrist senator Rodrigo Paz was leading Bolivia's presidential election, according to early official results, which showed the ruling Movement for Socialism on track for its worst election defeat in a generation.

Bolivia's presidential election is heading to a runoff after Sunday's vote ended over two decades of ruling party dominance