Nicaragua's Ortega takes huge lead in early presidential election count

Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua's current president and presidential candidate from the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front shows his ink stained thumb to the media after casting his vote at a polling station during Nicaragua's presidential election in Managua November 6, 2016. REUTERS/Oswaldo Rivas

MANAGUA (Reuters) - Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortega took a massive early lead in the Central American nation's presidential election on Sunday, as voters applauded years of solid growth and overlooked the opposition's criticisms that he is installing a family dynasty. The former guerilla fighter had 71.3 percent of votes, with 21.3 percent of polling stations counted, the electoral board said. Ortega's main opponent, the center-right Liberal Constitutionalist Party (PLC) candidate Maximino Rodriguez, was a distant second with 16.4 percent of votes. (Reporting by Enrique Pretel and Alexandra Alper)