MANAGUA, Nicaragua -- Daniel Ortega, the revolutionary Marxist who battled a U.S.-backed Contra insurgency in the 1980s, was closing in on Nicaragua's presidency, appearing Monday to have defeated four opponents with promises that he was a changed man.

Electoral officials had yet to release final results from Sunday's vote, but preliminary results and two of the country's top electoral watchdog groups all gave Ortega about 40 percent of the vote.