QUITO, Ecuador -- Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa resoundingly won re-election with an unprecedented first-round victory in Sunday's elections. Running on the Alianza PAÍS (Country Alliance) ticket, Correa took an estimated 54 percent of the vote. His closest challenger, Lucio Gutiérrez, finished with an estimated 31 percent. Under new electoral rules, a candidate needs either more than 50 percent of the vote, or more than 40 percent with a 10 percent margin over the second-place candidate, to avoid a run-off election. Exit polls also gave Correa a majority -- if slimmer than the one he currently enjoys -- in the Legislative Assembly, confounding many moderates' hopes for a parliamentary check on his government. Both the president and assembly's new terms last until 2013.
Re-Election the Easy Part for Ecuador’s Correa
