Santiago, November 18: Chile’s presidential race will head to a December 14 run-off after leftist former labour minister Jeannette Jara and far-right leader José Antonio Kast emerged as the top two contenders in Sunday’s first-round vote, electoral authority Servel said.
With roughly 83% of ballots counted, Jara led with 26.71%, followed closely by Kast on 24.12%. Eight candidates were on the ballot, but none secured the majority needed to win outright.
President Gabriel Boric congratulated both candidates, calling the vote a “spectacular day of democracy.”
Jara, 51, who served in Boric’s government, faces a difficult path to victory as conservative contenders quickly moved to consolidate support around Kast, founder of the hard-right Republican Party. Maverick economist Franco Parisi came in third with 19.42%, while ultraconservative lawmaker Johannes Kaiser and former mayor Evelyn Matthei — who won 13.93% and 12.70% respectively — endorsed Kast.
Campaigning has been dominated by public concern over rising crime, with murders, kidnappings and extortion surging in a country long considered one of Latin America’s safest. Jara has pledged to hire more police and strengthen tools to investigate organised crime, while Kast has vowed to fortify the northern border with Bolivia to deter migration.
Speaking to supporters, Jara urged voters not to let fear “harden your hearts,” warning against radical security proposals. Kast, 59, promised to “rebuild Chile” after what he called “maybe the worst government in democratic history.”
Analysts said the arithmetic of the first-round results leaves Jara at a disadvantage. “The combined opposition vote is almost double hers,” said Rodrigo Arellano of the University for Development, adding that anti-incumbent sentiment and rising anxieties over migration have boosted Kast’s chances.
Jara is the first Communist Party figure in modern Chile to lead a major coalition presidential ticket, and one of the few working-class candidates to reach the final stage in decades. She has campaigned on affordability, including raising the minimum wage and expanding access to housing.
Turnout was significantly higher than in 2021 after Chile made voting mandatory for all 15.7 million registered voters. Chileans also elected members of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, where the governing left currently holds a minority. Right-wing majorities in both houses could align Congress with the presidency for the first time since the end of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship in 1990.
The election is being closely watched across Latin America as the region’s left faces setbacks. A centre-right leader recently won in Bolivia after two decades of socialist rule, while conservatives are favoured in upcoming races in Colombia and Peru. In Brazil, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva faces a competitive re-election race next year.
Chile’s run-off will decide whether the region’s left loses another foothold — or whether Jara can defy the odds and reverse the rightward drift.
