Overview
- Official first‑round results put Jeannette Jara at about 26.8% and José Antonio Kast at about 23.9%, with turnout above 80% under compulsory voting.
- Populist Franco Parisi captured roughly 19.7% and has withheld an endorsement, telling both camps to win over his anti‑establishment voters.
- Kast quickly secured backing from Johannes Kaiser and Evelyn Matthei and benefits from right‑of‑center gains in Congress, including 76 of 178 deputies and 25 of 50 senators for the right.
- The campaigns pivoted immediately: Jara labeled Kast “authoritarian” while toughening her crime agenda and distancing from President Boric; Kast campaigned in La Araucanía, invited broad support, rolled out a new slogan and named Martín Arrau campaign chief.
- Argentina’s government said it will not issue a formal endorsement of Kast, even as some officials publicly congratulated him and their messages were amplified by President Javier Milei.