Far-Left and Far-Right Candidates to Face Off in Chile’s December Presidential Election

Chilean Communist Party’s Jara Secures 26.73% of the Vote
Republican Party’s Kast Follows with 24.09%

On the 16th (local time), Chilean Communist Party candidate Jeanette Jara, who ranked first in the Chilean presidential election, raised her hand and smiled brightly. However, she fell short of the majority vote and will face the final runoff on the 14th of next month. Photo by EPA Yonhap News

Jeanette Jara, 51, of the Chilean Communist Party, and Jose Antonio Kast, 59, of the Republican Party, have both advanced to the runoff election to determine Chile’s next president, who will serve a four-year term. The final winner of the presidential election will be decided on December 14 (local time). This election marks the first time in Chilean history that the presidential runoff will feature candidates from both the far left and the far right.

According to the Chilean Electoral Service (Servel), as of 9:30 p.m. on the 16th, with 86.9% of the votes counted, Jara had received 26.73% (3,004,332 votes), while Kast had secured 24.09% (2,707,197 votes), according to provisional results. Since no candidate received a majority, the top two candidates by vote share will face off in the final round.

Jara is the first candidate from the Chilean Communist Party to gain the full support of the center-left ruling coalition. Having served as Minister of Labor and Social Security (2022-2025) under President Gabriel Boric, she has made raising the minimum wage, strengthening workers’ rights, and expanding the influence of the state-owned lithium company her core campaign pledges.

Kast, who is making his third run for the presidency after two previous defeats, is a devout Catholic who has sparked controversy by calling for a “reassessment” of the Pinochet military regime. His father was a member of the German Nazi Party, and his brother served as a minister under Pinochet. Kast’s campaign pledges include the mass expulsion of undocumented immigrants, construction of new prisons, and privatization of the lithium industry.

On the 16th, Jose Antonio Kast, the Republican candidate who ranked second in the Chilean presidential election, smiled and raised one hand. Photo by AFP Yonhap News

U.S. public broadcaster NPR has identified immigration as the key issue that will determine the outcome of the presidential race. Both major candidates have made controlling illegal immigration and waging an all-out fight against foreign gangs their top priorities. In particular, both candidates have proposed strengthening border controls to block the Venezuelan gang “Tren de Aragua” and prevent illegal immigration. Illegal immigration in Chile has been blamed for the breakdown of public security and rising unemployment, among other economic problems.

This presidential election has also drawn attention for the large number of far-right candidates. Johannes Kaiser, for example, has made extreme statements, expressing distrust in vaccines and denying the climate crisis, and has prominently used the slogan “Make Chile Great Again,” borrowed from former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Although Jara led in the vote count, AFP and other outlets reported that there is speculation a right-wing candidate could ultimately win the final election. After the vote, both Kast and Kaiser told reporters that “the people no longer want the current government to continue,” and openly discussed the possibility of a conservative alliance.

Some analysts believe the lackluster performance of the left-leaning Boric administration could be a burden for Jara. President Boric, a former student movement leader, achieved a landslide victory over Kast in the 2021 election on a wave of public anger over inequality, but after the COVID-19 pandemic, he has struggled to deliver on social reform pledges due to economic constraints and parliamentary opposition. As a result, the government’s approval rating fell to just above 20% as of May this year.

Meanwhile, Chilean voters also elected all 155 members of the lower house and 23 out of 50 members of the Senate on the same day. If conservative parties win all these seats, it will mark the first time since the Pinochet regime that the right controls both the legislative and executive branches simultaneously.