LA PAZ, Bolivia, Aug 18, (AP):  Bolivia's presidential vote headed to an unprecedented runoff after elections Sunday that ended more than two decades of left-wing dominance in the Andean nation but signaled voters' trepidation about a major lurch to the right. A dark horse centrist, Sen. Rodrigo Paz, drew more votes than the right-wing front-runners, although not enough to secure an outright victory, early results showed.

Paz, a former mayor who has sought to soften the edges of the opposition’s push for tough austerity to rescue Bolivia from a looming economic collapse, will face off against right-wing former President Jorge "Tuto” Quiroga, who finished second. Bolivia holds the presidential runoff - its first since its 1982 return to democracy - on Oct 19.

"This economic model must change," Paz declared to crowds who cheered and chanted, "Renewal!" Paz’s campaign gained unexpected traction in recent weeks as he teamed up with Edman Lara, a social media savvy ex-police captain with evangelical backing whose supporters see him as a bold leader willing to stand up to corruption in the security forces.

With over 91% of the ballots counted Sunday, Paz received 32.8% of the votes cast. Quiroga secured 26.4%. Candidates needed to surpass 50%, or 40% with a 10-point margin of victory, to avoid a runoff. Addressing fans and flanked by family as confetti hearts sprayed from the ceiling, Quiroga congratulated Paz on his lead. "What happened is unprecedented,” he said.

"Bolivia told the world that we want to live in a free nation.” The results delivered a stunning blow to Bolivia's hegemonic Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, party, which has governed Bolivia almost uninterrupted since its founder, charismatic ex-President Evo Morales, rose to power as part of the "pink tide” of leftist leaders that swept into office across Latin America during the commodities boom of the early 2000s.

The official MAS candidate, Eduardo del Castillo, finished sixth with just 3.2% of the vote. A leftist candidate considered to be the party's best hope, 36-year-old Senate president Andrónico Rodríguez, captured 8% of the vote. During his almost 14 years in power, Morales expanded the rights of the country’s Indigenous majority, defended coca growers against US-backed eradication programs and poured natural gas profits into social programs.