General elections were held in Costa Rica on Sunday, 2 February 2014 to elect a new president, two vice presidents, and 57 Legislative Assembly lawmakers.Costa Rica's 2014 election season is officially open The Tico Times, 2013-10-02. In accordance with Article 132 of the constitution, incumbent President Laura Chinchilla Miranda was ineligible to run for a second consecutive term.Constitución Política de la República de Costa Rica Asamblea Legislativa de Costa Rica. Retrieved: 2013-12-28.

The ruling National Liberation Party (PLN) put forward San José Mayor Johnny Araya Monge as its presidential candidate; the Libertarian Movement party nominated former legislator Otto Guevara Guth; the leftist Broad Front nominated José María Villalta Flórez-Estrada; and the center-left Citizens' Action Party nominated Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera.

Opinion polls in December 2013 showed Araya ahead with 37 percent, Villalta close behind at 32 percent, Guevara at 15 percent, and Solís trailing at eight percent, suggesting the likelihood of a run-off vote in February.Newest poll shows Araya and Villalta heading for a runoff election The Tico Times, 2013-12-18.Encuesta de Unimer: Costa Rica sin favorito a dos meses de elecciones La Nación, 2013-12-01. Villalta's strong showing in the polls caused concern among Araya supporters and business leaders in Costa Rica. La Nacion, Costa Rica's most important newspaper and a historical ally of Liberacion Nacional, began a concerted series of attacks against Villalta, comparing him to Venezuela's Hugo Chávez. Political experts later concluded that this focus on Villalta helped Luis Guillermo Solis in the election.Frajman, Eduardo "The General Election in Costa Rica, February/April 2014" Electoral Studies, Vol. 35, 2014, pp. 61-66

In the presidential election, Solís and Araya came first and second, respectively, with neither candidate reaching 40 percent of the valid poll in the first round of voting, so a second round of voting was held from 6am to 6pm on 6 April, the first run-off election since 2002.Supreme Elections Tribunal begins manual recount of presidential votes The Tico Times, 2014-02-04.

In a surprise move, Araya announced on 6 March that he would abandon his campaign for the run-off election. He stated that after weighing his chances it was only sensible to withdraw from the campaign. Recent polls had indicated that he was trailing badly behind Solís and he believed that spending money on campaigning was not prudent. Although Araya's action effectively handed the presidency to Solís, the run-off still had to take place since Costa Rican law does not allow for a candidate to withdraw from a run-off election.Costa Rica government's presidential candidate withdraws BBC World News, 2014-03-06. Ultimately, Solís won the second round with 78 percent of the vote, a historic high in Costa Rica.Live Costa Rica presidential election results The Tico Times, 2014-04-06. Unlike the first round, Solís won a majority in every province. He became the first president since 1978 to be elected from a party other than the PLN or PUSC.

Presidential candidates There were thirteen political parties on the 2014 ballot, each one with their corresponding ticket of a president and two vice-presidents. PartyPresidentFirst VicepresidentSecond VicepresidentCitizens' Action PartyLuis Guillermo Solís Foreign Ministry's Chief of Staff (1986–1990), Ambassador of Central American Affairs (1994–1998)Helio Fallas Venegas Minister of Planning (1990–1994), Minister of Housing (2002–2006)Ana Helena Chacón Vice Minister of Public Safety (2002–2006), Deputy (2006–2010)National Liberation PartyJohnny Araya Monge San José Mayor (1998- )Jorge Pattoni General Manager Dos Pino's Corporation (1992–2013) Silvia Lara President of Joint Social Welfare Institute (2002–2006)Broad FrontJosé María Villalta Flórez-Estrada Deputy (2010–2014)María Dagmare Facio FernándezWalter Antillón MontealegreLibertarian MovementOtto Guevara Guth Deputy(1998–2002)Thelmo Vargas MadrigalAbriel Gordienko LópezSocial Christian Unity PartyRodolfo Emilio Piza de Rocafort Executive President of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (1998–2002)Carlos Eduardo Araya GuillénPatricia Vega HerreraNew Homeland PartyJosé Miguel Corrales Bolaños Deputy (2002–2006)Lizbeth Dora Quesada TristánÓscar Aguilar BulgarelliNational Restoration PartyCarlos Luis Avendaño CalvoRose Mary Zúñiga RamírezPablo Josué Chaves IllanesCosta Rican Renewal PartyJusto Orozco ÁlvarezAna Dinorah Rodríguez RojasRafael Ángel Matamoros MesénAccessibility without Exclusion Party Party (PASE)Óscar Andrés López AriasZulema Villalta BolañosMarvin Alberto Marín ZúñigaNew Generation PartySergio Mena DíazLuz Mary Alpízar LoaizaCarlos Francisco Moreno BustosWorkers' Party (PT)Héctor Enrique Monestel HerreraJessica Barquero BarrantesGreivis González LópezNational Advance PartyJosé Manuel Echandi Meza Carmen Lidia Pérez RamírezGabriel Zamora Márquez National Integration PartyWalter Muñoz CéspedesVivian González TrejosRodrigo Arguedas Cortés

Opinion polls If no candidate surmounts the 40% threshold, the two candidates who would qualify for the runoff are marked. No poll accurately predicted the first or second round voting results.

DatePollsterJohnny Araya (PLN)Otto Guevara (ML)Rodolfo Piza (R. Hernández before October 2013) (PUSC)L.G. Solís (PAC)J.M. Villalta (FA)OthersAug 2013Borge y Asociados52%9.7%23%8.2%3.5%Aug 2013CIEP20.2%1.4%12.4%4.1%4.5%Sep 2013Unimer27.5%9.7%10.6%4.4%19%26%Oct 2013CIEP24%9.9%3%4%9.7%1.3%Nov 2013Borge y Asociados26%16%4%4%19%26%Nov 2013Cid Gallup45%15%8%10%21%Dec 2013Unimer19%19%5%8%22%11%Dec 2013CIEP17%10%3%5%15%1%Dec 2013Cid Gallup37%15%5%9%32%14 Jan 2014Cid Gallup39%18%5%7%26%16 Jan 2014Unimer20.3%20.2%3.6%5.4%22.2%5.8%21 Jan 2014CIEP20.4%11.2%3.1%9.5%15.3%4.6%28 Jan 2014Cid Gallup35.6%17.6%6.5%15.6%21%3.8%28 Jan 2014CIEP17.4%7.3%3.4%11.6%14.4%

Results

President The results of the first-round final count were declared on 17 February 2014,Resultados Electorales: Total General Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones 2014-02-17. with the results of the second-round eighth count being declared on 7 April 2014:Corte Número 8 Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones 2014-04-07.

By province First round Province % PAC % PLN % FA % ML % PUSC % PPN % PREN % Other % 36.2 28.5 15.2 10.0 5.3 1.4 1.4 1.9 31.1 29.8 18.3 10.4 5.4 2.11.11.8 34.8 27.8 14.7 11.4 6.3 2.1 0.9 1.9 38.6 25.8 16.5 9.8 1.2 1.2 1.6 5.3 14.134.423.2 14.6 8.5 0.7 2.0 2.6 14.629.222.2 18.1 7.7 0.8 1.9 5.6 14.940.819.1 12.8 7.8 0.9 1.3 2.5 Total 30.6 29.7 17.3 11.3 6.1 1.5 1.4 2.2

Second round Province PAC % PLN % 77.6 22.3 78.9 21.1 80.3 19.6 80.8 19.1 73.1 26.8 77.5 22.4 69.7 30.2 Total 77.8 22.1

Legislative Assembly Although Solís' PAC received the most votes in the presidential elections, the party did not win in the parliamentary voting making PLN the largest party in the Assembly with 18 deputies over PAC's 13.

Leftist party Broad Front surprised with its results, achieving 9 seats, first time ever that the Left achieved such a big number. Social Christian Unity Party recovered part of its former influence by turning into the fourth political party in legislative size even when its candidate Rodolfo Piza was fifth in the presidential vote. The opposite happened to Otto Guevara’s right-wing Libertarian Movement, fourth in presidential votes, which stood fifth in legislative elections, and as a result, the number of its deputies was reduced from 9 to 4. Oscar Lopez’s PASE party also suffered a diminishment in number of deputies from 4 to 1 (Lopez himself).

Three Christian parties, oriented toward the Protestant minority and very socially conservative, also achieved deputies: Costa Rican Renewal Party 2, National Restoration 1 and Christian Democratic Alliance 1.

By constituency Constituency PLN PAC FA PUSC ML PREN PRC PASE PPN PNG Other % S % S % S % S % S % S % S % S % S % S % S San José23.55 27.25 12.12 8.82 7.52 5.31 3.91 4.21 2.00 1.80 3.50 Alajuela 27.44 25.23 14.02 8.31 7.71 3.20 4.00 4.10 3.00 0.80 2.40 Cartago 24.42 23.52 11.11 10.71 7.10 2.40 1.50 4.60 2.20 0.90 11.61 Heredia23.92 31.52 12.71 9.11 7.60 4.70 2.40 3.90 1.60 1.00 1.60 Puntarenas 28.52 12.81 14.81 15.31 9.00 4.20 3.30 3.90 0.90 1.305.90 Limón 26.01 10.50 15.91 11.41 10.61 3.20 12.61 3.60 0.90 0.90 4.40 Guanacaste 34.62 11.50 16.01 14.01 9.00 3.50 4.60 1.60 2.40 0.50 2.20 Total 25.718 23.513 13.19 10.08 7.94 4.11 3.92 3.91 2.10 1.20 4.41

Candidates elected Fifty-seven legislators were elected and took office on 1 May 2014, eleven of whom had been members of the Legislative Assembly in the past. Five were from the National Liberation Party: Antonio Álvarez Desanti, Juan Luis Jiménez, Olivier Jiménez, Rolando González, and Sandra Piszk. Two were from the Citizen Action Party: Epsy Campbell and Ottón Solís. Mario Redondo of the Christian Democratic Alliance served previously with the Social Christian Unity Party. The others were Otto Guevara of the Libertarian Movement Party, Oscar López of Accessibility without Exclusion Party, and Jorge Rodríguez of the Social Christian Unity Party.11 lawmakers return to Costa Rica's Legislative Assembly for second term The Tico Times, 2014-05-01. The full list is as follows:Declaratoria de elección de Diputados a la Asamblea Legislativa de la República de Costa Rica 2014-2018 Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones, 2014-03-03. Mapa de Resultados Elecciones Costa Rica 2014 La Nación, 2014-02-10. Corte #1: Resultados Electorales: SAN JOSÉ Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones, 2014-02-24. Corte #2: Resultados Electorales: ALAJUELA Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones, 2014-02-25. Corte #3: Resultados Electorales: CARTAGO Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones, 2014-02-25. Corte #4: Resultados Electorales: HEREDIA Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones, 2014-02-25. Corte #5: Resultados Electorales: GUANACASTE Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones, 2014-02-27. Corte #6: Resultados Electorales: PUNTARENAS Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones, 2014-02-27. Corte #7: Resultados Electorales: LIMÓN Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones, 2014-02-27.