Millennial Hard-Line Right Wing Candidate Wins Costa Rica Presidency as Crime Fears Drive Voters

Costa Ricans overwhelmingly chose ruling-party nominee Laura Fernández in the first round of their presidential election, as her promise to clamp down aggressively on crime struck a chord with voters troubled by a recent surge in drug-related violence.

With 81 % of ballots counted, Fernández had about 49 % of the vote, surpassing the 40 % threshold needed to avoid a runoff and crushing 19 other contenders. Her nearest rival, Álvaro Ramos, finished on roughly 33 % and conceded defeat.

Laura Virginia Fernández Delgado, 39, is a Costa Rican politician and political scientist who will succeed outgoing President Rodrigo Chaves. Born in Puntarenas on 4 July 1986, she studied public policy and democratic governance at the University of Costa Rica and has spent much of her career in government.

Before her election, Fernández served in President Chaves’s administration as Minister of National Planning and Economic Policy from 2022 to 2025 and later as Minister of the Presidency in 2024–25, resigning to run for president.

A member of the right-wing Sovereign People’s Party (Partido Pueblo Soberano), Fernández has campaigned as a continuation of Chaves’s leadership and hard-line approach to rising crime, proposing measures such as enhanced prison sentences and building high-security detention facilities inspired by models abroad.

Her platform also includes promises to strengthen the economy and reform public policy, drawing on her background in planning and governance. She has described herself as both a public servant and a consultant with experience in executive and legislative roles.

Opponents have raised concerns about Fernández’s emphasis on curbing civil liberties in high-crime areas and what critics see as potential threats to democratic norms; supporters argue her agenda is a necessary response to security challenges that have transformed Costa Rica from a longtime peaceful model into a nation grappling with gang and drug violence.