QUITO, Ecuador (Reuters) - Ecuador's leftist Rafael Correa, an ally of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, was headed for victory after Sunday's run-off for the country's eighth presidency in a decade, three exit polls showed.
Correa's rival Alvaro Noboa, Ecuador's wealthiest man, dismissed the poll results and said he believed he had won the second-round vote. He said he could demand a review of the ballots if necessary after official results are released.
An election victory by the former finance minister Correa would bolster Chavez's campaign to unite left-wing Latin American governments in a turf war to counter U.S. influence and free-trade policies with his own brand of socialist proposals.
Correa, a U.S.-trained economist who worried Wall Street with talk of debt renegotiation, had marketed himself as an outsider to woo Ecuadoreans frustrated with poverty and years of instability in the world's top banana exporter.
"He has won the candidacy of the people," said Gustavo Larrea, the head of Correa's campaign and possible interior minister under his government. "We are on a new path and in a new moment."
A Cedatos-Gallups poll and an independent poll carried out for local Teleamazonas television showed Correa with around 57 percent of the vote while Noboa had around 43 percent. A survey carried out by local firm Market for a regional channel showed Correa with 57.9 percent to Noboa's 42.01 percent.
Initial official results will be announced later on Sunday.