SANTIAGO — Chile has swung sharply to the right after hardline conservative José Antonio Kast won the presidential runoff in a campaign shaped by fears over crime, migration and economic uncertainty. With more than 99% of ballots counted, Kast, leader of the Republican Party, had about 58% of the vote; his opponent, Communist Party candidate Jeannette Jara, took just over 41% and conceded, saying democracy had spoken. Outgoing President Gabriel Boric called to congratulate Kast.
As the result was confirmed, honking cars and crowds waving Chilean flags filled an affluent Santiago neighborhood awaiting the president-elect’s remarks. Kast pledged to “work relentlessly to restore peace, order, growth and hope,” calling himself “the president of all Chileans” and promising to make Chile “free from crime again, free from anguish, free from fear.”
The 59-year-old, a devout Catholic and father of nine, ran a campaign focused almost entirely on public security and immigration, declaring a national “crisis” and promising an “emergency” government. He has said that undocumented migrants must leave by the day he takes office, March 11, 2026, or face deportation or prosecution. His hard-line stance resonated with voters alarmed by a recent rise in violent crime and growing concern about irregular migration.
Kast is a noted admirer of former dictator Augusto Pinochet and will be the first Chilean president since the 1990 return to democracy to openly praise the military regime. His father, Michael Kast, was a member of the Nazi Party and served in the German army during World War II before emigrating to Chile in 1950.
Kast’s victory ends years of left-of-center rule and reflects a regional pattern in which security and migration have become decisive electoral issues. This year Bolivia voted out long-ruling socialists; Argentina’s La Libertad Avanza movement strengthened President Javier Milei’s position in Congress; and Ecuador re-elected center-right Daniel Noboa. Milei called Kast a friend and said the result showed Latin America was casting off “the oppressive shackles of 21st-century socialism.” U.S. Senator Marco Rubio also congratulated Kast on social media, saying Washington looks forward to working together to bolster regional security.