Chile Sets Runoff Between Communist Jara and Far-Right Kast After High-Turnout First Round

Overview

• Jeannette Jara led the first round with 26.8% to José Antonio Kast’s 23.9% as compulsory voting returned for the first time since 1990, driving turnout to nearly 85%.
• Collectively, right-of-center candidates captured about 52% of the vote, giving Kast a numerical path to consolidate support for the runoff.
• Ultraright figures Johannes Kaiser and center-right candidate Evelyn Matthei quickly endorsed Kast, while third-place finisher Franco Parisi has not committed.
• The far-right posted large legislative gains, expanding from one to six seats in the Senate and from 15 to 42 in the Chamber of Deputies, signaling tougher terrain for a potential left-led government.
• Security, immigration and the economy dominated the campaign as Kast advanced a hardline law-and-order and ultraconservative social agenda, and Jara, a Boric-backed former labor minister, seeks to attract moderates.