MONTEVIDEO - Uruguay's new president-elect Yamandu Orsi, whose political ambitions were galvanized by his experience growing up in a dictatorship, was the pollsters' narrow favorite to win the second round of the South American nation's presidential election on Sunday for the center-left.

The candidate of the conservative coalition that has governed for the past five years conceded defeat after a tight runoff, as Uruguay joined others around the world in rebuking the incumbent party in a year of landmark elections.

Left-wing candidate Yamandu Orsi from the Broad Front coalition wins Uruguay's presidential election in a second-round run-off vote against Alvaro Delgado of the National Party on Sunday. His triumph marks a return to power for the Broad Front coalition after five years of a conservative government.

By Lucinda Elliott MONTEVIDEO (Reuters) -Voters in South America's laid-back Uruguay, known for its beaches, legalized marijuana and stability, headed to the polls on Sunday for a second-round presidential race between moderates that closes out a bumper year for global elections.

Uruguayans are returning to the polls for a second round of voting to choose their next president. In Sunday's election, the conservative governing party and the left-leaning coalition locked in a close runoff after failing to win an outright majority in last month’s vote.

Even as ballots in the closely contested runoff election were still being counted, Álvaro Delgado, the current president’s chief of staff, conceded defeat to his challenger, Yamandú Orsi. “With sadness,

The result in Montevideo follows a trend of victories for anti-incumbency candidates in Latin America, and a regional leftward turn.

The election was free of the anti-establishment fury that has vaulted populist outsiders to power elsewhere, like the United States and neighboring Argentina.