Bogotá, September 12 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Enrique Peñalosa, who served as mayor of Bogota, Colombia, from 1998 to 2001, emerged as the favorite in a new poll released Friday, which was conducted by Ipsos Napoleon Franco for a consortium of Colombian media outlets.

The center-left Peñalosa received 33 percent support, outracing his nearest rival, Rafael Pardo by 16 points. Pardo is an ally of current president, Juan Manuel Santos and served as his labor minister.

In third place was Clara Lopez, the leftist former presidential candidate who is running on behalf of the Democratic Pole, with 12 percent support. Lopez had been leading early polls, though trends showed her support steadily decreasing.

In last place was Francisco Santos, a close ally of far-right former president Alvaro Uribe with only eight percent support.

Other candidates received little amount of support, including Maria Mercedes Maldonado, who is seen as the chosen successor of current mayor Gustavo Petro, and received less than one percent support.

The post of mayor of Bogota is seen as the second-most important political office in Colombia. The election will take place on Oct. 25, 2015 with the winner chosen through a plurality of votes.