With three months to go on the campaign trail, former vice president Laura Chinchilla, of the National Liberation Party (PLN) continues to maintain an overwhelming lead.
A CID Gallup poll released last week showed her with 44 percent of the vote. The two runners-up continue neck-in-neck with Ottón Solís, of the left-leaning Political Action Party (PAC), receiving 18 percent of the vote and Libertarian candidate Otto Guevara receiving 15.7 percent. A Demoscopía study the week before showed Guevara ahead of Solís by three percentage points.
Even with Chinchilla’s sizable lead, there are no promises that she’ll be the next to occupy the Casa Presidencial, said Carlos Denton, co-founder and president of the market research firm CID Gallup.
“It’s too early to say Laura will win,” he said, explaining, that under Costa Rica’s election rules, if a candidate wins with less than 44 percent of the vote, a second election is held as a runoff between the two candidates with the most votes.
So, if the opposition to the PLN is able to unite, the possibility exists that someone other than Chinchilla could win the presidency.
However, the fact that the next most popular candidates – Solís and Guevara – are ideologically opposed makes this less likely.
When the elections office closed on Oct. 23, nearly 7,000 people had registered as candidates in the February 2010 elections, which include municipal and regional races.
Name: Laura Chinchilla
Age: 50
Party: National Liberation Party
Political Orientation: Center, Center-Right
Resume: Public security vice minister (1994-1996), public security minister (1996-1998), legislator (2002-2006), vice president of the republic and justice minister (2006-2008)
Vice-presidents: Scientist Alfio Piva and businessman Luis Liberman
Key issues: Economy, security, the environment
Name: Luis Fishman
Age: 61
Party: Social Christian Unity Party
Political Orientation: Center-Right
Resume: Lawyer, legislator (1990-1994 and 1998-2002), public security minister (1990-1994), vice president of the republic (2002-2006), president of PUSC
Vice-presidents: Iris Zamora, journalist, and Humberto Vargas, engineer
Key issues: Security, education, cost of living
Name: Mayra González
Age: 56
Party: Costa Rican Renovation Party
Political Orientation: Center-Right (Christian
Resume: Lawyer, mayor of Tibás (2005-2006), also served as deputy mayor and city councilor
Vice-presidents: Carlos Alberto Víquez, customs administrator, and José Francisco, lawyer
Key issues: Security, fiscal reform, education
Name: Otto Guevara
Age: 49
Party: Libertarian Movement
Political Orientation: Right (libertarian)
Resume: Lawyer and professor, founder of the Libertarian Movement, legislator (1998-2002), two-time presidential candidate (2002 and 2006)
Vice-presidents: Mario Quirós, legislator, and Lorena San Román, engineer and biologist
Key issues: Security, employment, improvement of public services (education and health)
Name: Oscar López
Age: 38
Party: Accessibility without Exclusion Party
Political Orientation: Left
Resume: Former president of the National Foundation for the Blind, former representative to a United Nations Development Program commission, legislator (2006-2009)
Vice-presidents: Agnes Gutiérrez, nurse, and Miguel Calderón, academic
Key issues: Security, senior citizen issues, Education
Name: Walter Muñoz
Age: 50
Party: National Integration Party
Political Orientation: Center-Right
Resume: Physician and former legislator (1998-2002)
Vice-presidents: Alvaro Montero, lawyer and economist, Vivian González, agriculture engineer
Key issues: Health, security, employment
Name: Ottón Solís
Age: 55
Party: Citizen Action Party
Political Orientation: Center-Left
Resume: Academic and economist, national economics and political planning minister in the first administration of Oscar Arias (1986-1988), director of the Central Bank, legislator (1994-1998), party founder, two-time presidential candidate (2002 and 2006)
Vice-presidents: Mónica Segnini, businesswoman, and Julio Humphrey, public health specialist
Key issues: Education, competitiveness (state efficiency), small business
Name: Eugenio Trejos
Age: 50
Party: Broad Front Party
Political Orientation: Left
Resume: Academic and economist, Rector of the Costa Rican Institute of Technology, leader of opposition to the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)
Vice-presidents: Carmen Chacón, social worker, and Wilmar Matarrita, lawyer
Key issues: Poverty, economy, corruption
