Costa Rican presidential election heads to runoff


Two candidates seeking Costa Rica's presidency, an ex-president and a former finance minister, advanced to the April 3 runoff election after the first round of voting Sunday, the Buenos Aires Times reported Monday.
Pollsters expected a runoff. To avoid a second round of voting, the first-place candidate needs to receive at least 40 percent of the vote, a highly unlikely outcome in a crowded field of 25 candidates.
Still, there were a few surprises when the ballots were counted.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Former President José María Figueres, who led Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998 and was polling at around 17 percent, won 27 percent of the vote.
According to The Associated Press, "Figueres is nothing if not well-known to voters in Costa Rica; his father was three-time president José Figueres Ferrer," who abolished Costa Rica's army in 1948 and is "probably the country's most important political figure of the last century."
Economist Rodrigo Chaves, who served as the country's finance minister from 2019 to 2020, finished second with nearly 17 percent of the vote, despite having polled in fourth place.
Both candidates are centrists.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Per the Times, both are also "tainted by scandal: Figueres was investigated for alleged financial misdeeds, and Chaves for sexual harassment. Both denied wrongdoing."
Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.
-
5 artfully drawn cartoons about Donald Trump's Epstein doodle
Cartoons Artists take on a mountainous legacy, creepy art, and more
-
Violent videos of Charlie Kirk’s death are renewing debate over online censorship
Talking Points Social media ‘promises unfiltered access, but without guarantees of truth and without protection from harm’
-
What led to Poland invoking NATO’s Article 4 and where could it lead?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION After a Russian drone blitz, Warsaw’s rare move to invoke the important NATO statute has potentially moved Europe closer to continent-wide warfare
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro sentenced to 27 years for coup attempt
Speed Read Bolsonaro was convicted of attempting to stay in power following his 2022 election loss
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
Voting: Trump's ominous war on mail ballots
Feature Donald Trump wants to sign an executive order banning mail-in ballots for the 2026 midterms
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers