Officialist Jeannette Jara and far-right José Antonio Kast advance to Chilean presidential runoff

Jeannette Jara, the officialist candidate, and José Antonio Kast, the far-right leader, secured the top two positions in Chile's presidential election held on Sunday, advancing to a runoff scheduled for Sunday, December 14.

The two candidates will face off next month to determine the country's next president after preliminary results confirmed they led the field in the first round. With 27.38% of the polling stations counted, the former Labor Minister, Jara, held a slight lead over Kast, the founder of the Republican Party, by nearly one percentage point, according to authorities. Early results from the Chilean Electoral Service (Servel), based on 15.04% of tables counted, showed Jara leading with 26.17% of the vote, followed by Kast with 24.87%.

Jara, who is affiliated with the Communist Party (PC) and the Christian Democratic Party (DC), built her presidential candidacy on her record while serving as Labor Minister under President Gabriel Boric.

Kast, a former deputy, secured his place in the runoff in what marks his third attempt at the presidency. He previously ran in 2017 and 2021, where he advanced to the second round but was defeated by Boric. Kast's campaign has focused heavily on security and order, proposing strict measures against crime, linking immigration to criminal activity, and advocating for border blockades. The results prompted celebrations at the Republican command headquarters.

Among the candidates who failed to advance were Franco Parisi, who placed third, followed by Evelyn Matthei, Johannes Kaiser, Harold Mayne-Nicholls, Marco Enríquez-Ominami, and Eduardo Artés. Following the results, the officialist candidate's political strategy for the December vote became a subject of discussion. The Secretary General of the Communist Party avoided commenting on whether Jara might suspend her party membership ahead of the second round, a potential move to broaden her appeal to non-aligned voters.