Who Is Francis Allison, Lima’s Mayoral Challenger?

PROFILE · PERU

Francis Allison is the man who could still upset Lima’s mayoral race. He trails the list of former mayor Rafael López Aliaga by 0.86 points after ONPE counted 92.699% of tally sheets. The other 1,924 sheets sit with election juries, and they could decide the result.

Until a few weeks ago, few polls gave him a chance. Ipsos had him at 13% in late September. Now he is within a point of the leader. That surprise is why foreign investors and readers now ask who he is.

From Magdalena del Mar to the Cabinet

Francis James Allison Oyague was born on 1 March 1970 in Miraflores, Lima, according to the Spanish-language Wikipedia. He is a lawyer by training. His father, Guillermo Allison, was also mayor of Magdalena del Mar.

Magdalena del Mar is a small coastal district in Lima. Francis Allison first won its mayoralty in 2002, for a term from 2003. He was re-elected in 2006 with about 66% of valid votes, according to the Spanish-language Wikipedia, and again in later elections. He won again in 2022 for Alianza para el Progreso (APP) and is serving until the end of 2026, La República reported.

In June 2009 he became housing minister under President Alan García. He was 39. He left the post in September 2009, in the wake of the Business Track affair, a scandal over a private firm accused of spying on politicians. La República reported in 2022 that a related inquiry into him had been closed.

Allison has changed parties several times. Peruvian parties are often built around people and not a fixed ideology, and politicians move between them. He has run for Solidaridad Nacional and APP, among others, and joined Avanza País in January 2026, according to El Comercio.

What Avanza País Stands For

Avanza País is a party founded in 2000 by Pedro Cenas Casamayor. It was refounded in 2017, and it moved to an economically liberal, conservative line after economist Hernando de Soto ran for president for it in 2021, according to the Spanish-language Wikipedia. Its platform backs a social market economy and a firm line on crime.

That puts it close to the Renovación Popular of López Aliaga on security and markets. The difference is mostly personal and organisational. Voters who wanted an alternative to López Aliaga on the right turned to Allison late in the campaign.

His Programme for Lima

Allison campaigned on security first. He proposed armed police officers in each patrol of Lima’s city security force, known as serenazgo. He promised rewards of up to S/25,000 (about US$7,300) for tips leading to arrests of hired killers, and a first-year security budget of S/300 million (about US$87 million), according to press reports of his programme.

On transport, he wants Lima to take back control of the Urban Transport Authority, known as ATU. The municipality of Magdalena del Mar filed a bill in August asking Congress to change the ATU law, according to Infobae Perú. We have not read his filed plan with the electoral court.

Exchange rate used: S/3.44 per US$1 (RT, 5 October 2026).

How He Got Here, and What He Says Now

Allison rose late. Ipsos had him at 13% on 24 and 25 September, behind López Aliaga at 25% and Carlos Bruce at 14%. Datum’s exit poll on election night had him at 25.2% against 31.2% for López Aliaga. Its later quick count narrowed it to 26.7% against 27.6%, a technical tie.

His reaction has been careful. On election night he said he is a democrat and will recognise the results. He told reporters that if the results were confirmed, “I have to look for him and congratulate him”, according to RPP. He has not alleged fraud.

On Monday he changed tone. “The fight at the table is coming, we can reverse that,” he told Caretas. He said the difference could lie in challenged tally sheets from places where his party did very well. He also told reporters he would recognise the result “whatever it is”.

He says he will recognise the result, but he has not conceded. Our Lima explainer sets out how the election juries decide.

What Prediction Markets Say

On Polymarket’s “Lima Mayoral Election Winner” market, Allison was at 3.0% and López Aliaga at 92.0% at 5:51 p.m. ET on 5 October, with about US$489,000 traded. His price roughly doubled during Monday from about 2%. Kalshi, regulated in the US by the CFTC, lists a Lima market too, but it is thinly traded and its prices are inconsistent, so we do not quote Allison’s price there.

Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.

What It Means for US Readers

Lima’s mayor does not set Peru’s mining or tax policy. That rests with the national government and Congress. For US investors in Southern Copper or Credicorp, the race matters mostly as a test of how Peru handles close, contested results.

The mayor does run city services, roads and local permits in a metropolis of about 10 million people, where US firms and expatriates operate. Allison’s security plans and his transport proposals would shape daily life there. The city hall’s debt of about S/5.05 billion (about US$1.47 billion), according to the fiscal council, will limit any new spending.

What Is Not Known

We do not know how many votes the 1,924 disputed tally sheets contain or whom they favour. His claim of strong results in the disputed sheets is his own. We could not read his Hoja de Vida, the sworn résumé filed with the electoral court, because its page does not load for automated readers. Education details and party dates therefore come from Peruvian media and reference sources. We also found conflicting reports about legal cases from 2009 and 2019 and do not describe them. The national electoral court has not ruled on whether López Aliaga, who ran as first councillor, may take the mayor’s office if his list wins.

Who is Francis Allison?

Francis Allison, 56, is a Peruvian lawyer, the mayor of Magdalena del Mar, a former housing minister and the Avanza País candidate for mayor of Lima. He is second in the ONPE count behind the list of Rafael López Aliaga.

How close is Allison to winning Lima?

At 92.699% of tally sheets counted, he had 26.841% of valid votes against 27.703% for Renovación Popular, a gap of 0.86 points or about 44,900 votes. About 1,924 sheets are with the election juries.

What party is Avanza País?

Avanza País is a Peruvian party founded in 2000. It backs a social market economy and a firm line on crime, and it is economically liberal and conservative.

Has Allison conceded?

Not formally. He has said he will recognise the official result and has not alleged fraud, but he says the challenged tally sheets could still change the outcome.

What are his main proposals for Lima?

Armed police in city security patrols, rewards for tips on hired killers, more municipal intelligence, and returning the transport authority ATU to city control.

Related: López Aliaga list leads Lima count by 0.86 points, Peru election results page and full list of Peru’s runoff regions.

Sources

El Comercio (ONPE count); Gestión (Allison statements); Altavoz (Allison on observed sheets); Infobae Perú (programme); La República (2022 profile); Ipsos (September poll); Polymarket (Lima mayoral market) Also: ONPE, JNE, RPP, Caretas, Wikipedia (biographical background, to be read with caution).

This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief

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