Paraguay’s voters will choose 263 mayors and municipal councils on Sunday, 4 October 2026, but the election won’t change the national government. No presidential or congressional seat is on the ballot. The Tribunal Superior de Justicia Electoral (TSJE) lists 5,043,154 registered voters, and polling places will open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Paraguay time.
Local Power, National Stakes
Voters will decide municipal leadership across 263 districts. The results will also test President Santiago Peña and his Colorado Party ahead of the 2028 presidential election. The Colorados have governed Paraguay for most of its modern history. In the 2021 municipal elections, they won 163 mayoralties; the Liberal Party (PLRA) won 62.
The Colorado Party, formally the National Republican Association (ANR), is described as conservative. It was founded in 1887 and has governed almost without a break since 1947, including during the Stroessner dictatorship from 1954 to 1989. It lost power only from 2008 to 2013. The main opposition, the Authentic Radical Liberal Party (PLRA), is described as centrist and was founded in 1978 by opponents of Stroessner. Smaller parties such as Patria Querida often join the Liberals in local alliances.
Asunción is the biggest prize. Colorado candidate Camilo Pérez faces Soledad Núñez, a civil engineer and former housing minister who isn’t a career party politician. Núñez is running on the Patria Querida ticket, with backing from about 15 opposition parties and movements, including the Liberals.
Two September polls put Pérez ahead. Ati Snead’s poll, conducted 11–16 September, gave him about 52.6% to Núñez’s 34.3%. Grau & Asociados’ poll, conducted 16–17 September, gave Pérez 50.8% to 27.0%. The outlets that published the polls lean toward the ruling party, and their coverage cautioned readers to treat the gaps carefully.
Contests Beyond the Capital
Ciudad del Este, on the Brazilian border, is a major trading city and another closely watched contest. Daniel Mujica of the Yo Creo movement, a local reform party founded by Miguel Prieto, won a November 2025 by-election by 40 points after Prieto’s removal from office. Prieto was removed in August 2025 and predicted a historic Colorado defeat. Rigoberto Chamorro is running for the Colorados on the team of Governor César “Landy” Torres. No recent public poll was available for the city.
In Encarnación, on the Argentine border, deputy Sebastián “Cheba” Remesowski is the Colorado candidate; he won his primary with 76%. His main rival is Liberal deputy Carlos Pereira, backed by Alianza Encarnación en Marcha, which brings together the Liberals, Patria Querida and smaller parties. In San Lorenzo, near Asunción, Felipe Salomón, Colorado mayor in 2021–2026, is seeking a return against Luz Bella González, the Liberal chosen as the opposition’s consensus candidate. No recent public polls were available for Encarnación or San Lorenzo.
Counting and the Wider Political Test
The TSJE’s preliminary count, known as TREP, was expected to begin around 5:30 p.m. local time, with results from all districts expected by 8 p.m. at the latest. The first figures and exact timing depend on how quickly results arrive. TREP is preliminary and non-binding; electoral tribunals in each circuit conduct the official count and proclaim the winners after Sunday. Publishing exit polls and survey data is prohibited until one hour after polls close.
No prediction market covered the municipal races. Kalshi listed contracts for the 2028 congressional election, pricing the Colorado Party at about 76% to win the Senate vote and 82% to win the Chamber of Deputies vote, with the Liberals at 15% and 18%. Only a few thousand contracts had traded, so the prices offer a rough signal.
Peña can’t run again, but his party aims to retain the presidency. A broad Colorado win would show strength, while losses in Ciudad del Este or other large towns would give the opposition a sign of a challenge; local results don’t translate directly into national votes. Paraguay is the only South American state that recognizes Taiwan, one of 12 governments worldwide that do so. Relations date to 12 July 1957, and debate continues in Paraguay over opening trade with mainland China. Turnout, the durability of opposition alliances and the precise time of the first TREP figures remained unknown.