Preliminary and partial results put the successor chosen by the president of Costa Rica close to winning the presidency

Costa Rican presidential candidate Laura Fernández prepares to vote at a polling station in Cartago, Costa Rica, on Sunday, February 1, 2026. AP/Carlos Borbon The Supreme Electoral Court reported that, with votes from 75% of polling stations counted, conservative populist Laura Fernández, from the Sovereign People’s Party, had 49.1% of the votes. His closest opponent was economist Álvaro Ramos, from the National Liberation Party, with 32.8%. It is necessary to obtain at least 40% of the total votes to win the presidential election in the first round. Otherwise, the two candidates with the most votes will go to a second round on April 5th. Fernández campaigned defending the continuity of the policies of President Rodrigo Chaves, who cannot run for re-election. See the videos that are trending on g1 The increase in crime in recent years in the historically peaceful Central American nation could be a decisive factor for many voters. Some blame the Chaves government for failing to reduce these rates, but many see its confrontational style as Costa Rica’s best chance of containing the violence. Fernández was previously Minister of National Planning and Economic Policy in Chaves and, more recently, Minister of the Presidency. She is Chaves’ preferred successor and was considered the favorite before Sunday’s election. Costa Ricans also voted for the National Assembly, consisting of 57 seats. Chaves’ party is expected to gain more space, but it may not reach the supermajority that he and Fernández defend — which would allow, for example, the party to choose Supreme Court magistrates. Twenty candidates were running for president, but none, besides Fernández and Ramos, exceeded 5% in the preliminary and partial results. About 3.7 million Costa Ricans are eligible to vote. Voting began at 6am on Sunday and ended at 6pm. Ronald Loaiza, an electrical engineer, was one of the first to vote in the rain and cold on Sunday morning at a school in Cartago, about 25 kilometers east of San José. He went early so he could join his father later in another city. “I hope it will be a democratic celebration, that people will come out to vote,” he said. “It is very important that we exercise the right that this country gives us, that we are aware of our democracy.” Four years ago, Chaves ran a campaign as an “outsider” that led him to victory over the country’s traditional parties, despite having already been, for a short time, Minister of Economy in a previous government. His narrative that traditional parties were corrupt and acting out of self-interest had great repercussions in a country with high unemployment and a growing budget deficit.

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