Bogota, Colombia - Colombians made history on Sunday by electing a woman mayor in Bogota as they took to the polls in local and regional elections for the first time since the signing of a landmark 2016 peace deal.

Journalist-turned-politician Claudia Lopez, 49, is part of the Green Alliance party. A former senator, she was vice-presidential candidate in the 2018 election. The position of mayor of Bogota, the capital, is as the most influential political position in Colombia, after the presidency.

“Claudia Lopez's win in Bogota is historical on several levels,” said Arlene Tickner, political science professor at Rosario University.

“She will be the first woman and the first openly-gay politician to occupy the second most important elected office in Colombia, and her long-standing fight against corruption will hopefully create a battle cry that other like-minded elected officials throughout Colombia can join.”

Sunday's elections were the first at the regional and local level since the signing of the controversial peace deal between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which ended a bloody 52-year long conflict. Read more via Al Jazeera