MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Ruling party’s Laura Fernández emerges as clear front-runner in Costa Rica election

The early margin puts Fernández within reach of the 40% threshold required to win outright and avoid an April runoff

The candidate for the ruling Partido Pueblo Soberano, Laura Fernández, has become Costa Rica's new president-elect with nearly 50% of the vote, compared to approximately 30% for the Social Democrat Álvaro Ramos, who came in second, according to provisional data from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE).

 

Some 3.7 million Costa Ricans were called to the polls on Sunday to elect Rodrigo Chaves' successor and renew the 57 seats in the Legislative Assembly. Turnout was around 66% on a day marked by concerns about insecurity linked to drug trafficking and strong electoral mobilization, according to the results schedule released by the electoral body.

 

The result placed Fernández comfortably above the 40% needed to avoid a second round. The opposition was fragmented—with some 20 candidates on the ballot—after a campaign marked by a tense media climate and strong polarization, with outgoing President Rodrigo Chaves as an omnipresent figure despite the Constitution preventing him from competing.

At the parliamentary level, the ruling party's victory is less comfortable: it will be the main force, but it does not have an absolute majority.

 

Campaigns had prepared parallel election-night events in San José: Fernández’s team gathered supporters at a hotel venue for a post-results address, while Ramos planned a separate speech elsewhere in the capital. Claudia Dobles—running under the Citizen Action banner within the broader opposition coalition—called supporters to meet at the “Mercadito La California” food hall downtown.

Beyond Ramos and Dobles, the opposition landscape includes left-wing legislator Ariel Robles, whose party has been prominent in congressional battles, and lawyer José Miguel Aguilar, who has drawn attention due to family ties to El Salvador’s president.

A regional political footnote also surfaced: Nayib Bukele publicly congratulated Fernández as “president-elect” before the count was conclusive, prompting commentary in regional media.

The vote also renews Costa Rica’s 57-seat legislature, which will shape the next administration’s ability to legislate on security, judicial reforms and cost-of-living measures. As counting continues, the dominant question remains whether Fernández can sustain her advantage through later reporting and secure a first-round win.