The 2024 Contigo Chile Mejor mayoral primaries were held on June 9, 2024, to select the candidates of the center-left electoral alliance Contigo Chile Mejor for mayor in 45 Chilean communes. The winners were to appear on the ballot in the municipal elections of October 26–27, 2024. The alliance brought together the parties of President Gabriel Boric's governing coalition and the Christian Democratic Party. It fielded 152 candidates, of whom 45 were nominated.
Voting was voluntary and open to members of the participating parties and to independents. Turnout was low, at roughly 6 percent of eligible voters across all the primaries held that day. Candidates registered as independents, many of them endorsed by parties, received the most votes (24.4 percent), followed by the Socialist Party of Chile (20.1 percent) and the Christian Democratic Party (13.6 percent). The Socialists won the most nominations, with 10. Nominees included Camila Nieto in Valparaíso, Miguel Concha in Peñalolén and Nicolás Hurtado in La Florida. The results were disrupted in Paredones, where the winner turned out to have been barred from holding public office and his party withdrew his candidacy.
Background
Rules Chilean law defines primaries as a mechanism for parties to nominate candidates, and the results are binding on the participating parties. Voting is mandatory in Chilean elections generally, but Law 21.524 exempts primaries. Each party or alliance chooses who may vote in its primary. For the 2024 primaries, members of the participating parties and independents could vote, but each person could vote in only one primary.
According to the head of the Electoral Service (Servel), members of parties that were not holding primaries could not participate. Where more than one alliance held a primary in the same commune, independents received a ballot listing the candidates of both and could vote for only one. Members of the participating parties received a ballot listing only the candidates of their own side. The ballots for the Contigo Chile Mejor primaries were light blue.
The alliance and its candidacies The Contigo Chile Mejor alliance was registered in early April 2024. It comprised the parties of the governing coalition plus the Christian Democrats, and it announced the communes where it would hold primaries. The alliance initially said it had agreed to hold primaries in 86 communes. When Servel's deadline for registering primaries closed on the night of April 10, the official filings showed only 47. Servel published the accepted candidacies. In the end, the alliance's primaries were reported in 45 communes across 12 of Chile's 16 regions, with 152 candidates in total. Valparaíso, Antofagasta, Talca and Calera de Tango each had six candidates. The alliance held no primaries for regional governor.
The Contigo Chile Mejor primaries took place alongside those of the opposition Chile Vamos alliance, which held contests in 20 communes and in two regions for governor, and those of the Social Christian Party. In total, 60 communes held mayoral primaries.
Campaign The campaign period for the primaries ran from May 10 to June 6, 2024.
Results
Overall Candidates are listed under the party with which they registered. Those registered as independents include many who were endorsed by parties of the alliance.
Despite holding primaries in more than twice as many communes as Chile Vamos, Contigo Chile Mejor received roughly 168,000 votes to the opposition alliance's roughly 110,600. Participation across all the primaries was about 6 percent of eligible voters. The Clinic reported that this was the most votes cast in primaries of this kind since legal primaries were introduced in 2012. By the Socialist Party's count of nominees, it led the alliance with 10. The Party for Democracy followed with 7, the Communist Party with 5, and Social Convergence and the Christian Democrats with 3 each. The Radical Party and the Regionalist Green Social Federation had 2 each, and Comunes and Democratic Revolution had 1 each. Eleven independents were also nominated.
+ Results by party Party Votes % Candidates Nominees Independents 41,040 24.40 40 11 Socialist Party of Chile 33,748 20.06 23 10 Christian Democratic Party 22,847 13.58 19 3 Communist Party of Chile 18,034 10.72 18 5 Party for Democracy 12,015 7.14 14 7 Social Convergence 9,734 5.79 6 3 Democratic Revolution 8,448 5.02 4 1 Radical Party of Chile 7,557 4.49 9 2 Regionalist Green Social Federation 7,267 4.32 9 2 Liberal Party of Chile 3,639 2.16 5 0 Comunes 3,309 1.97 4 1 Humanist Action 570 0.34 1 0 Valid votes 168,208 100 152 45
Notable contests Valparaíso: Camila Nieto of Social Convergence, a sitting city councilor, won a six-candidate contest with 37.1 percent. She finished ahead of Christian Democrat Guillermo de la Maza, who took 28.3 percent. Peñalolén: Miguel Concha of Democratic Revolution won with 51.8 percent. The commune had been governed by the Christian Democrats for the previous 20 years, and the result left the party without a candidate in the general election. Providencia: Macarena Fernández of Social Convergence defeated Socialist María Fernanda Villegas by 44 votes, 1,504 to 1,460. La Florida and Puente Alto: Two of the three communes with the highest turnout were La Florida and Puente Alto. The third was Lo Barnechea. In La Florida, the Communist Party's Nicolás Hurtado, a city councilor who had worked with government spokesperson Camila Vallejo, won the alliance's primary. The Chile Vamos primary in the same commune drew about 19,900 votes, against about 10,900 for the Contigo Chile Mejor primary. In Puente Alto, Socialist Luis Escanilla won the alliance's primary with 68.98 percent. Paredones: See below.
Results by commune Nominees are shaded. Party abbreviations: PDC = Christian Democratic Party; PS = Socialist Party of Chile; PCCh = Communist Party of Chile; PPD = Party for Democracy; PR = Radical Party of Chile; CS = Social Convergence; RD = Democratic Revolution; FREVS = Regionalist Green Social Federation; PL = Liberal Party of Chile; COM = Comunes; AH = Humanist Action; Ind. = independent.
Antofagasta Region Antofagasta Candidate Party Votes % Result Gonzalo Dantagnan PDC 1,400 14.12 Wilson Díaz PS 985 9.94 Pablo Iriarte PCCh 2,911 29.37 Nominated Camilo Kong CS 1,568 15.82 Ignacio Pozo Ind. 2,234 22.54 Fernando San Román Ind. 814 8.21
Atacama Region Tierra Amarilla Candidate Party Votes % Result Cristian Palacios PS 203 32.32 Enrique Soto CS 279 44.43 Nominated Patricio Morales Ind. 146 23.25
Coquimbo Region Combarbalá Candidate Party Votes % Result Juan Rodrigo Fuentes COM 561 46.02 Nominated Juan Carlos Cabezón Ind. 229 18.79 Roberto Rojas Ind. 429 35.19
La Higuera Candidate Party Votes % Result Uberlinda Aquea PS 606 72.75 Nominated Urbano Morales PCCh 227 27.25
La Serena Candidate Party Votes % Result Rosana Adaros PDC 538 5.63 Camilo Araya COM 1,520 15.91 Ernesto Velasco PR 3,486 36.49 Nominated Mauricio Ibacache Ind. 1,934 20.24 Rayén Pojomovsky Ind. 2,076 21.73
Valparaíso Region Cartagena Candidate Party Votes % Result Bernardo Álvarez COM 719 32.49 Pamela Álvarez RD 292 13.19 Hernán Pacheco PCCh 190 8.59 Patricia Quiroz PPD 1,012 45.73 Nominated
Nogales Candidate Party Votes % Result Patricia Ortega PR 466 39.83 Jonathan Vásquez PCCh 704 60.17 Nominated
Puchuncaví Candidate Party Votes % Result Erika Galarce PPD 365 67.34 Nominated María Jesús Morales Ind. 177 32.66
Valparaíso Candidate Party Votes % Result Guillermo de la Maza PDC 2,753 28.28 Boris Kuleba PS 1,084 11.14 Camila Nieto CS 3,614 37.12 Nominated Consuelo Requena FREVS 695 7.14 Sebastián Tobar PL 407 4.18 Omar Valdivia PPD 1,182 12.14
Santiago Metropolitan Region Buin Candidate Party Votes % Result Tamara Aguilera PCCh 633 16.58 Marcelo Aguilera PL 221 5.79 Marcelo Álvarez FREVS 1,988 52.08 Nominated Ariel Gómez PPD 975 25.54
Calera de Tango Candidate Party Votes % Result Andrea Serrano PDC 27 0.84 Catalina Magaña PS 625 19.54 Juan Ignacio Cornejo COM 509 15.91 Daneritt Faúndez PL 110 3.44 Jacqueline Valenzuela PCCh 176 5.50 Constanza Valenzuela Ind. 1,752 54.77 Nominated
Isla de Maipo Candidate Party Votes % Result Carlos Maureira PCCh 285 8.95 Jorge Alfaro CS 1,262 39.64 Carlos Adasme Ind. 1,637 51.41 Nominated
La Florida Candidate Party Votes % Result Roberto Valenzuela PDC 1,551 14.20 Catalina Pozo AH 570 5.22 Nicolás Hurtado PCCh 6,547 59.94 Nominated Reinaldo Rosales PPD 1,911 17.50 Rubén Rosales FREVS 343 3.14
La Granja Candidate Party Votes % Result Edita Alarcón PDC 4,494 51.28 Nominated Juan Valdés PS 3,096 35.33 José Luis Díaz FREVS 603 6.88 Alberto Ramírez Ind. 571 6.52
Lo Barnechea Candidate Party Votes % Result Luis Vergara Ind. 112 27.52 Andrea Araya Ind. 295 72.48 Nominated
Paine Candidate Party Votes % Result Mario Arros FREVS 1,442 71.92 Nominated Ana Carolina Santis Ind. 563 28.08
Peñalolén Candidate Party Votes % Result Ximena Llamín PDC 2,164 17.87 Miguel Concha RD 6,277 51.82 Nominated José Ruiz Ind. 3,672 30.31
Providencia Candidate Party Votes % Result Fernanda Villegas PS 1,460 34.40 Pedro Araya PCCh 448 10.56 Macarena Fernández CS 1,504 35.44 Nominated Giovanka Luengo FREVS 239 5.63 Bartolomé Reus PL 593 13.97
Puente Alto Candidate Party Votes % Result Luis Escanilla PS 5,133 68.98 Nominated Vladimir González PL 2,308 31.02
O'Higgins Region Nancagua Candidate Party Votes % Result Richard Cáceres PDC 1,048 35.32 Luis Escanilla PS 1,919 64.68 Nominated
Olivar Candidate Party Votes % Result Rodrigo Lagos PDC 256 18.67 Carla Guajardo Ind. 1,115 81.33 Nominated
Paredones Candidate Party Votes % Result Sammy Ormazábal PPD 609 69.60 Annulled Emiliano Guerrero Ind. 266 30.40
Rancagua Candidate Party Votes % Result Carlos Arellano PDC 1,207 17.47 Patricio Henríquez PS 1,135 16.43 Hugo Boza FREVS 1,509 21.84 Valentina Cáceres Ind. 2,350 34.01 Nominated Roberto Villagra Ind. 708 10.25
San Fernando Candidate Party Votes % Result Robert Arias PS 396 25.68 Jorge Chamorro PR 219 14.20 Javier Novoa PCCh 283 18.35 María José Díaz PPD 485 31.45 Nominated Laura Martínez FREVS 159 10.31
Santa Cruz Candidate Party Votes % Result Carlos Cisterna PS 961 56.20 Nominated Rossana González PDC 561 32.81 Pedro Zúñiga PCCh 188 10.99
Maule Region Curepto Candidate Party Votes % Result Enrique Gidach PR 208 21.25 Osvaldo Barrios Ind. 410 41.88 Nominated Patricio Lara Ind. 361 36.87
Linares Candidate Party Votes % Result Carlos Castro RD 726 33.27 Michael Concha PS 876 40.15 Nominated Lenin Fuentes PCCh 580 26.58
Talca Candidate Party Votes % Result Juan Carlos Figueroa PDC 956 16.09 Hernán Astaburuaga PS 1,196 20.12 Sixto González PCCh 2,270 38.20 Nominated Carolina Loren FREVS 289 4.86 Carlo Campano Ind. 927 15.60 Carolina Soto Ind. 305 5.13
Biobío Region Lebu Candidate Party Votes % Result Francisco Yévenes PCCh 861 48.40 Nominated Glenda Bahamondes Ind. 549 30.86 Néstor Matamala Ind. 369 20.74
Lota Candidate Party Votes % Result Mauricio Torres PS 1,491 69.90 Nominated Luis Carrillo PCCh 391 18.33 Héctor Hidalgo PPD 251 11.77
Penco Candidate Party Votes % Result Freddy Neira PDC 2,518 43.40 Nominated Leopoldo Valencia PS 1,420 24.47 Justo Insunza PR 1,022 17.61 Carlos Contreras Ind. 842 14.51
San Pedro de la Paz Candidate Party Votes % Result Gabriel Acuña PR 815 18.98 Felipe Vásquez PS 731 17.03 Camila Ortiz RD 1,153 26.86 Audito Retamal PPD 1,594 37.13 Nominated
Talcahuano Candidate Party Votes % Result Eduardo Saavedra PS 4,074 55.01 Nominated Mikel Capetillo PCCh 357 4.82 Roberto Pino CS 1,507 20.35 Matías Coloma Ind. 1,468 19.82
Araucanía Region Carahue Candidate Party Votes % Result Paola Retamal PDC 886 22.99 Jonnathan Hidalgo PS 1,534 39.80 Nominated José Merino PPD 1,152 29.89 Carlos Pino PR 282 7.32
Curacautín