2026 Costa Rican general election

The victory of businessman Rodrigo Chaves in the 2022 general election caused a major political shift, as he was a candidate outside the traditional parties and opposed to the classic institutional system.^[1][2] Despite good macroeconomic indicators during his administration, especially due to economic growth and record exports, the reduction in unemployment and poverty, and the fall in inflation, Chaves maintained tensions with the other branches of the state, especially the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE).^[3][4] On 7 September 2025, the TSE asked the Legislative Assembly to lift Chaves' immunity so that he could be prosecuted for fifteen complaints received for political belligerence, that is, for using his position to favour a party in the elections.^[5] In December 2025 the Legislative Assembly rejected removing Chaves' immunity.^[6] He also faced corruption accusations by the Supreme Court.^[7]

At the same time, Costa Rica experienced an unprecedented increase in violence associated with drug trafficking and organised crime, which damaged the country's historical image as a peaceful democracy. This deterioration in security became the main concern for citizens and dominated public debate. In 2024, the Costa Rican Constitution was amended to allow for the extradition of drug traffickers and domestic terrorists wanted by foreign authorities.^[4][8]

Chaves maintained a historic approval rating, although between October 2025 and January 2026 it fell from 63% to 58% and obtained a 28% disapproval rating, 8 points higher, according to the Centre for Political Research and Studies (CIEP) at the University of Costa Rica.^[9][10] He was ineligible to run in 2026, as the constitution limits the consecutive re-election of presidents, who are eligible to run for office eight years after the end of their term.^[11]

The president of Costa Rica is elected using a modified two-round system in which a candidate must receive at least 40% of the vote to win in the first round; if no candidate wins in the first round, a runoff is held between the two candidates with most votes.^[12] Each presidential candidate shares the ballot with two vice-presidential candidates.^[13]

The 57 members of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica are elected using a closed list voting system with proportional representation through the largest remainder method from seven multi-member constituencies which are based on the seven provinces, allocated seats based on population (in this election the constituencies varied between five and 18 seats).^[14] Overseas voters may cast ballots in the presidential election, but not for members of the Legislative Assembly.^[15]

The following table shows the candidates nominated by the eligible parties:^[16]

Party				Ideology	Ticket
					President[17]	1st Vice President	2nd Vice President
	Broad Front			Democratic socialism	Ariel Robles	Margarita Salas Guzmán	Guillermo Arroyo Muñoz
	Citizen Agenda Coalition		Citizens' Action Party	Social democracy	Claudia Dobles Camargo	Andrea Centeno Rodríguez	Luis Felipe Arauz
			National Democratic Agenda
	Costa Rica First Alliance			Social democracy	Douglas Caamaño Quirós	Lissa Freckleton Owens	Carlos Moya Bonilla
	Costa Rican Democratic Union Party				Boris Molina	Edgardo Morales Romero	Maricela Morales Mora
	Costa Rican Social Justice Party			Social democracy	Wálter Hernández Juárez	Shirley González Mora	Eduardo Rojas Murillo
	Costa Rica Rules Here			Populism	Ronny Castillo	Hazel Arias Mata	William Anderson Lewis
	Democratic and Social Center Party				Ana Virginia Calzada	Oldemar Rodríguez Rojas	Heilen Díaz Gutiérrez
	Forward			Classical liberalism	José Aguilar Berrocal	Evita Arguedas Maklouf	Marcela Ortiz Bonilla
	Hope and Freedom Party			Humanism	Marco Rodríguez	Carlos Palacios Franco	Fabiola Romero Cruz
	National Hope Party			Progressive conservatism	Claudio Alpízar Otoya	Andrés Castillo Saborío	Nora González Chacón
	National Integration Party			National conservatism	Luis Amador Jiménez	Jorge Borbón	Katya Berdugo Ulate
	National Liberation Party			Social democracy	Álvaro Ramos Chaves	Karen Segura Fernández	Xinia Chaves Quirós
	New Generation Party			Conservatism	Fernando Zamora	Lisbeth Quesada Tristán	Yeudy Sulem Araya
	New Republic Party			Christian right	Fabricio Alvarado Muñoz	David Segura Gamboa	Rosalía Brown Young
	Progressive Liberal Party			Classical liberalism	Eliécer Feinzaig Mintz	Tania Molina Rojas	Gabriel Zamora Baudrit
	Social Christian Unity Party			Christian democracy	Juan Carlos Hidalgo	Yolanda Fernández Ochoa	Steven Barrantes Núñez
	Social Democratic Progress Party			Liberalism	Luz Mary Alpízar Loaiza	Frank Mckenzie Peterkin	Maritza Bustamante Venegas
	Sovereign People's Party			Right-wing populism	Laura Fernández Delgado	Francisco Gamboa Soto	Douglas Soto Campos
	United We Can			Libertarianism	Natalia Díaz Quintana	Jorge Ernesto Ocampo	Luis Diego Vargas
	Working Class Party			Trotskyism	David Hernández Brenes	Obeth Morales Barquero	Jeimy Castro Valverde

The Supreme Electoral Court officially launched the election campaign on 1 October 2025.^[18] Fernández's campaign was centered on crime, amid voters' concerns about a rise in drug violence.^[19][20] Since 2023, Costa Rica's murder rate has climbed by over 50% compared to before Chaves took office in 2022.^[20] She said she would follow a path similar to that of Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele, including plans to complete the construction of a mega-prison modeled after the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) built by Bukele.^[19][20][21] Fernández said she planned to declare a state of emergency in gang-controlled areas.^[19] Chaves's government and his policy on crime were generally popular among the Costa Rican public, and Fernández capitalized on Chaves's popularity. Fernández has said that she plans to expand the use of cargo scanners at the country's airports and seaports and strengthen partnerships with foreign and international law enforcement in order to cut down on drug trafficking.^[20]

Despite a numerically positive economic situation, the growth in the Costa Rican economy has only shown results for a small minority of citizens. Much improvement has happened only in "free trade zones", which offer tax breaks and less customs regulation for investors. Despite growth in some sectors, Costa Rica's domestic market economy has shown negligible improvement.^[21][22]

Fernández is opposed to abortion; she has promised to double the maximum prison sentence for women who have abortions to six years.^[20] Fernández has signaled that she will appoint outgoing president Chaves to a position in her cabinet, likely chief of staff.^[19][20][23] Voters also expressed concern at the degradation of Costa Rica's public services, such as education, healthcare, and transportation. Costa Rica is also in a dire situation demographically: a rapid increase in the average age in the country is expected in the coming decades, putting strain on the Costa Rican pension system. The environment is also a factor in the public's perception of the government, with lofty sustainability goals often left far from being met. Despite promises for a "green Costa Rica", the government plans to scale back a ban on fossil fuel exploration and to accelerate the exploitation of the country's natural resources.^[21]

International human rights observers have warned that Fernández may erode the rule of law and undermine checks and balances in Costa Rica. Many internal political groups also expressed concern at the PPSO's centralization of power.^[20] The election cycle showed a marked decrease in political participation, with barely 20% of citizens being a member of a political party.^[21] Álvaro Ramos, the National Liberation Party candidate and runner-up in the election, presented himself as a centrist alternative to the PPSO.^[22] Ramos said in a speech on 22 January that he supports the middle class. He also presents himself as opposing what he considers to be Costa Rica's growing authoritarianism, saying that he is "the strongest proposal in defense of our most important value as Costa Ricans, which is democracy".^[24] Ramos opposes the opening of Chaves's mega-prison, saying "you don't have to lock people up for being tattooed".^[25] He does still support taking a firm stance against crime, calling during the final debate for a larger police force and improved intelligence sharing with international partners. Ramos promised tax incentives for small businesses as well as infrastructure projects to reduce unemployment and create jobs.^[26]

The former first lady Claudia Dobles of the Citizen Agenda Coalition ran on a progressive platform. Dobles supported social reform and environmental protections.^[22] Regarding crime, Dobles said during the final debate before the election that she supported community-based enforcement and pushed for larger reforms in the judiciary. She said that she planned to modernize hospitals and provide free higher education.^[26]

According to the Public Opinion Studies Report from the Center for Political Research and Studies (CIEP) at the University of Costa Rica, 55% of voters were still undecided in December 2025, and 75% said they did not sympathize with any political party.^[27]

Pollster	Date	Sample						Other	DK/DA	Neither
			Alvarado PNR	Dobles CAC	Fernández PPSO	Ramos PLN	Robles FA
IDESPO[28]	22 January 2026	805	1.7%	5.2%	39.9%	6.0%	3.5%	4.2%	38.8%	0.7%
OPOL[29]	21 January 2026	3075	3.5%	3.6%	43.2%	6.6%	2.6%	10.4%	29.8%	0.3%
CIEP[30]	21 January 2026	1006	4.0%	5.0%	40.0%	8.0%	4.0%	6.7%	32.0%	0.3%
OPOL[31]	14 January 2026	3070	4.2%	3.1%	42.5%	6.2%	3.0%	9.2%	29.0%	2.8%
OPOL[32]	7 January 2026	3008	3.3%	2.7%	40.3%	6.0%	3.1%	9.6%	34.5%	0.5%
CID Gallup[33]	6 January 2026	1200	5.9%	3.6%	40.7%	9.0%	4.3%	11.1%	11.0%	14.4%
OPOL[34]	23 December 2025	3241	3.0%	2.6%	39.4%	5.6%	3.1%	9.6%	33.8%	2.9%
Demoscopía[35]	15 December 2025	1200	3.5%	3.1%	27.4%	11.3%	4.8%	8.2%	41.7%	-
OPOL[36]	10 December 2025	2965	3.8%	2.4%	38.0%	6.1%	3.6%	11.2%	32.7%	2.2%
Idespo[37]	8 December 2025	805	1.5%	5.2%	32.8%	6.6%	3.7%	2.9%	45.5%	1.8%
CIEP[38]	3 December 2025	1759	1.0%	4.0%	30.0%	8.0%	5.0%	4.4%	45.0%	2.6%
OPOL[39]	26 November 2025	3040	3.7%	2.8%	37.7%	6.9%	3.4%	10.5%	34.1%	0.9%
Demoscopía[40]	17 November 2025	1200	5.0%	3.0%	21.4%	9.0%	4.0%	10.5%	19.4%	27.7%
OPOL[41]	12 November 2025	3072	4.0%	1.3%	37.8%	7.2%	2.4%	8.4%	37.9%	1.0%
IDESPO[42]	6 November 2025	832	0.6%	2.3%	28.1%	6.2%	2.9%	3.9%	54.0%	2.0%
OPOL[43]	29 October 2025	2951	4.8%	2.9%	31.2%	7.4%	3.7%	9.2%	39.0%	1.8%
CIEP[44]	22 October 2025	1333	0.6%	3.0%	25.0%	7.0%	3.0%	3.9%	55.0%	2.5%

Pollster	Date	Sample						Other	DK/DA	Neither
			Alvarado PNR	Dobles CAC	Fernández PPSO	Ramos PLN	Robles FA
OPOL[45]	30 September 2025	3000	8.7%	5.5%	45.1%	9.4%	6.4%	24.9%	-
Enfoques Investigaciones MP[46]	18 September 2025	800	13.0%	5.0%	26.0%	9.0%	3.0%	12.0%	32.0%	-
CID Gallup[31]	11 September 2025	1205	15.0%	5.0%	20.0%	8.0%	4.0%	12.0%	12.0%	24.0%
CIEP[47]	10 September 2025	1003	1.0%	2.0%	12.0%	6.0%	5.0%	12.0%	57.0%	5.0%
OPOL[32]	3 September 2025	3000	6.8%	3.9%	27.6%	8.4%	4.2%	14.8%	5.6%	28.7%
Sondeo CIOdD-UCR[33]	2 September 2025	4111	0.8%	17.2%	13.1%	24.7%	20.8%	15.3%	8.1%	-
OPOL[34]	5 August 2025	3020	7.2%	3.4%	24.0%	7.1%	3.2%	11.9%	14.7%	28.5%
OPOL[35]	8 July 2025	1800	10.3%	3.8%	13.1%	7.6%	2.9%	17.6%	9.3%	35.4%

Pollster	Date	Sample	PA	PPSD	PNR	PIN	CR1	PACRM	PUP	CAC	PLP	PPSO	PUSC	PLN	FA	PEL	PNG	Other	DK/DA	Neither
CIEP[30]	21 January 2026	1006	1.0% 1	0.6% 1	1.0% 1	0.1% 0	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.1% 0	1.5% 2	0.6% 1	29.0% 31	2.0% 2	9.0% 10	7.0% 8	0.0% 0	0.1% 0	0.4% 0	46.0%	1.1%
IDESPO[37]	8 December 2025	805	0.2% 0	2.3% 2	1.6% 2	0.1% 0	0.2% 0	0.0% 0	0.1% 0	1.8% 2	0.9% 1	29.5% 30	2.8% 3	10.8% 11	6.1% 6	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.7% 0	41.1%	1.8%
CIEP[44]	22 October 2025	1333	0.1% 0	2.0% 3	0.2% 0	0.3% 1	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.3% 1	1.2% 2	0.5% 1	14.0% 22	2.0% 3	8.0% 12	6.0% 9	0.2% 0	0.1% 0	2.1% 3	60.0%	3.0%
CIEP[47]	10 September 2025	1003	0.1% 0	5.0% 10	0.5% 1	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.2% 0	0.2% 0	1.0% 2	1.0% 2	7.0% 13	2.0% 4	5.0% 10	7.0% 13	0.0% 0	0.5% 1	0.5% 1	70.0%	–

The election took place at 7,000 voting centers across Costa Rica.^[22] Voting began at 6 a.m. and ended at 6 p.m.^[22][25] No major irregularities were reported surrounding the election, although a brief clash occurred between supporters of Fernández and Ramos when the candidates arrived to vote.^[22] 3.7 million Costa Ricans were eligible to vote in the election.^[4][48]