2026 Costa Rican general election
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1 February 2026
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 Costa Rica portal |
General elections are due to be held in Costa Rica on 1 February 2026.[1][2] If no candidate for president receives a 40% plurality of the valid votes in the first round, a runoff election will be held on 5 April.
There are twenty candidates for president,[3][4] some of which are depicted in this article's template.
Electoral system
[edit]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.[5]
The 57 members of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica are elected using closed list proportional representation through the largest remainder method from seven multi-member constituencies with between four and 19 seats, which are based on the seven provinces.[6]
Public opinion study
[edit]According to the Public Opinion Studies Report from the Center for Political Research and Studies (CIEP) at the Universidad of Costa Rica, of December 2025, 55% of the voters were still undecided, and 75% declared they did not sympathize with any political party at the time of the survey.[7]
Presidential candidates
[edit]The following table shows the candidates nominated by the eligible parties:
| Party | Ideology | Ticket | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | 1st Vice President |
2nd Vice President | |||
_2013.svg){kind=small} Broad Front |
Democratic socialism | Ariel Robles | Margarita Salas Guzmán | Guillermo Arroyo Muñoz | |
 Citizen Agenda (coalition of the Citizens' Action Party and National Democratic Agenda) |
Social democracy | Claudia Dobles Camargo | Andrea Centeno Rodríguez | Luis Felipe Arauz Cavallini | |
 Costa Rica First Alliance |
Social democracy | Douglas Caamaño Quirós | Lissa Ivannis Freckleton Owens | Carlos Moya Bonilla | |
 Costa Rican Democratic Union Party |
Social democracy | Boris Molina Acevedo | José Edgardo Morales Romero | Maricela Morales Mora | |
 Costa Rican Social Justice Party |
Social democracy | Walter Rubén Hernández Juárez | Shirley González Mora | Eduardo Rojas Murillo | |
 Costa Rica Rules Here |
Populism | Ronny Castillo González | Hazel María Arias Mata | William Martín Anderson Lewis | |
 Democratic and Social Center Party |
Social conservatism | Ana Virginia Calzada Miranda | Oldemar Rodríguez Rojas | Heilen Díaz Gutiérrez | |
 Forward |
Classical liberalism | José Miguel Aguilar Berrocal | Evita Arguedas Maklouf | Marcela Ortiz Bonilla | |
 Hope and Freedom Party |
Humanism | Marco David Rodríguez Badilla | Carlos Francisco Palacios Franco | Karla Fabiola Romero Cruz | |
 National Hope Party |
Progressive conservatism | Claudio Alberto Alpízar Otoya | Andrés Castillo Saborío | Nora Elena González Chacón | |
 National Integration Party |
Catch-all party | Luis Esteban Amador Jiménez | Jorge Mario Borbón Rojas | Katya Berdugo Ulate | |
 National Liberation Party |
Social democracy | Álvaro Roberto Ramos Chaves | Karen Segura Fernández | Xinia María Chaves Quirós | |
 New Generation Party |
Conservatism | Fernando Zamora Castellanos | Lisbeth Quesada Tristán | Yeudy Sulem Araya Herrera | |
 New Republic Party |
Conservatism | Gerardo Fabricio Alvarado Muñoz | David Lorenzo Segura Gamboa | Rosalía Brown Young | |
 Progressive Liberal Party |
Liberalism | Eliécer Feinzaig Mintz | Tannia Molina Rojas | Gabriel Zamora Baudrit | |
 Social Christian Unity Party |
Christian democracy | Juan Carlos Hidalgo Bogantes | Yolanda Fernández Ochoa | Steven Alberto Barrantes Núñez | |
 Social Democratic Progress Party |
Liberalism | Luz Mary Alpízar Loaiza | Frank Alberto Mc Kenzie Peterkin | Maritza Bustamante Venegas | |
.jpg){kind=small} Sovereign People's Party |
Right-wing populism | Laura Virginia Fernández Delgado | Francisco Ernesto Gamboa Soto | Douglas Soto Campos | |
 United We Can |
Classical liberalism | Natalia Díaz Quintana | Jorge Ernesto Ocampo Sánchez | Luis Diego Vargas Rodríguez | |
 Working Class Party |
Trotskyism | David Hernandez Brenes | Obeth Morales Barquero | Jeimy Castro Valverde | |
References
[edit]- ^ Mora, Carlos (28 November 2024). "TSE fija cronograma para elecciones nacionales de 2026 | CR Hoy". CR Hoy | Periodico Digital | Costa Rica Noticias 24/7 (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 October 2025.
- ^ "Costa Rica 2026 Elections Kick Off: 20 Candidates Vie for Presidency". The Tico Times. 2 October 2025. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
- ^ S.A, La Nación. "Elecciones Costa Rica 2026: los planes de gobierno y el perfil de los candidatos a la presidencia y diputados". www.nacion.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 January 2026.
- ^ Tico Times (2 October 2025). "Costa Rica 2026 Elections Kick Off: 20 Candidates Vie for Presidency". ticotimes.net. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
- ^ Costa Rica IFES
- ^ Electoral system IPU
- ^ Mazariegos, Miranda (12 December 2025). "Costa Rica: Meet the Candidates 2026". Americas Quarterly. Retrieved 18 January 2026.