1986 Costa Rican general election
2 February 1986 (1986-02-02)
Presidential election
 
Nominee Óscar Arias Rafael Ángel Calderón
Party PLN PUSC
Popular vote 620,314 542,434
Percentage 52.34% 45.77%
Results by canton
President before election

Luis Alberto Monge
PLN

 Elected President

Óscar Arias
PLN

Parliamentary election
All 57 seats in the Legislative Assembly
29 seats needed for a majority
PartyLeader % Seats +/–
PLN Óscar Arias 47.83 29 −4
PUSC Rafael Ángel Calderón 41.45 25 +7
PU Rodrigo Gutiérrez Sáenz 2.70 1 −3
AP Álvaro Montero Mejía 2.40 1 New
PUAC Juan Guillermo Brenes 1.16 1 +1
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 2 February 1986.[1] Óscar Arias of the National Liberation Party won the presidential election, whilst his party also won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 82%.[2]

Costa Rica was under a strong two-party system at the time. The country was undergoing military tensions with neighboring Nicaragua due to the recently happened Sandinista Revolution and Nicaragua's dictator Daniel Ortega's fighting of the right-wing Contra rebel guerilla in its southern border disregarding the official limits and confronting Costa Rica's police and security forces. Such skirmishes left one policeman's death and several wounded and both countries at the edge of war. Whilst some people blamed former president Rodrigo Carazo for allowing the FSLN to operate in the Costa Rican northern territory against then dictator Anastasio Somoza, others resented President Luis Alberto Monge's hawkish behavior toward Sandinista Nicaragua and his support of the Contras.[3]

Former minister and deputy Oscar Arias faced former vice president Carlos Manuel Castillo in closed primaries. Castillo had the support of PLN's traditional leadership including former presidents and party's founders José Figueres Ferrer, Daniel Oduber Quirós and Luis Alberto Monge.[4] Arias was seen as a young, alternative candidate and the "underdog" in the election, but managed to earn the majority of votes and popular support.[4]

On the other side of the two-party system former Foreign Minister (under Carazo's administration) Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier, son of historical leader of Calderonismo Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia, was nominated by the Social Christian Unity Party, then main opposition force. This was Calderón's second attempt to win the Presidency.

During the campaign the topic of peace was central. Calderón tried to present himself as a hawk who felt no quarrels in facing Nicaragua militarily. Arias on the contrary tried to show himself as a man of peace and negotiator who would pacified the region. His slogan was "Paz para mi gente" (Peace for my People).[3] In fact, some analysts also saw Arias' position as a strong criticism of Monge, of his own party, and his hardline position. Monge and Arias would be political enemies ever since.[3]

PLN campaign also focused in showing Calderón as a man of war and remembering old historical periods, blaming Calderonism for the 1948 Civil War and the 1955 Somoza-endorsed Calderonistas' invasion attempt. The party even went so far as to show Calderón in a cartoon as a spoil kid ready for war wearing the clothing of Quico, a popular character from El Chavo del Ocho.[5]

Results

President

CandidatePartyVotes%
Óscar Arias SánchezNational Liberation Party620,31452.34
Rafael Ángel Calderón FournierSocial Christian Unity Party542,43445.77
Rodrigo Gutiérrez SáenzPeople's Alliance9,0990.77
Álvaro Montero MejíaUnited People6,5990.56
Alejandro Madrigal BenavidesChristian National Alliance Party5,6470.48
Eugenio Jiménez SanchoIndependent Party1,1290.10
Total1,185,222100.00
Valid votes1,185,22297.44
Invalid votes26,0292.14
Blank votes5,0490.42
Total votes1,216,300100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,486,47481.82
Source: Election Resources

The People's Alliance was a coalition of the People's Vanguard Party and the Broad Democratic Front.

By province

Province Arias % Calderón % Gutiérrez % Montero % Madrigal % Jiménez %
 San José 54.2 43.8 0.8 0.6 0.5 0.1
 Alajuela 53.0 45.8 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.1
 Cartago 54.1 44.3 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.1
 Heredia 52.8 45.2 0.8 0.6 0.5 0.1
 Puntarenas 48.2 49.2 1.2 0.7 0.5 0.1
 Limón 42.4 54.0 1.7 1.1 0.7 0.1
 Guanacaste 50.1 48.7 0.3 0.5 0.3 0.1
Total 52.3 45.8 0.8 0.6 0.5 0.1

Parliament

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
National Liberation Party560,69447.8329–4
Social Christian Unity Party485,86041.4525New
United People31,6852.701–3
People's Alliance28,5512.441New
Christian National Alliance Party19,9721.700New
Cartago Agrarian Union Party13,5751.161+1
Independent National Republican Party10,5980.900New
General Union Party4,4020.380New
Alajuelense Democratic Action4,3240.370–1
Authentic Limonense Party3,8130.3300
Alajuelense Solidarity Party3,6040.310New
Independent Party3,0670.2600
National Democratic Party2,0540.1800
Total1,172,199100.00570
Valid votes1,172,19996.39
Invalid votes30,6672.52
Blank votes13,1871.08
Total votes1,216,053100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,486,47481.81
Source: Election Resources

By province

Province PLN PUSC PU AP ANC PRNI PUG Others
 % S  % S  % S  % S  % S  % S  % S  % S
 San José 49.5 10 40.3 9 3.4 1 2.9 1 1.9 0 0.8 0 0.6 0 0.6 0
 Alajuela 49.9 5 42.0 5 1.2 0 1.3 0 1.1 0 0.6 0 0.1 0 3.9 0
 Cartago 46.6 3 37.5 2 1.7 0 1.7 0 1.3 0 0.6 0 0.1 0 10.5 1
 Heredia 48.3 3 42.1 2 4.1 0 2.5 0 2.1 0 0.8 0 0.1 0 - -
 Puntarenas 45.1 3 44.2 3 2.2 1 3.1 0 1.7 0 1.5 0 0.3 0 2.0 0
 Limón 34.9 2 44.6 2 4.8 1 5.5 0 1.7 0 1.4 0 0.9 0 6.2 0
 Guanacaste 47.6 3 45.6 2 1.4 0 0.8 0 2.5 0 1.7 0 0.3 0 - -
Total 47.8 29 41.4 25 2.7 1 2.4 1 1.7 0 0.9 0 0.4 0 2.7 1

Local governments

PartyVotes%Seats
Alderpeople+/–Municipal
syndics		+/–
National Liberation Party580,46049.36260–39306–97
Social Christian Unity Party508,73243.26232New114New
United People33,0262.813–1800
People's Alliance29,5512.512New0New
Alajuelense Solidarity Party5,5020.471New0New
Alajuelense Democratic Action5,3260.451–100
General Union Party4,3270.372+100
Independent National Republican Party3,1430.270New0New
Authentic Limonense Party2,3420.201000
National Democratic Party1,6820.141–100
New Alajuelita Party1,2460.111000
Independent Party7260.060000
Total1,176,063100.00504+9420+6
Valid votes1,176,06396.71
Invalid/blank votes39,9883.29
Total votes1,216,051100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,486,23481.82
Source: TSE[6]

References

  1. ↑ Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p155 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
  2. ↑ Nohlen, p157
  3. 1 2 3 Rodríguez Vega, Eugenio (2004). Costa Rica en el siglo veinte. EUNED. ISBN 9789968313834.
  4. 1 2 Picado León, Hugo. "Proceso de selección de candid atos a presidente y diputados en el PLN y el PUSC (1990-2006)" (PDF). Proyecto OIR/OPAL.
  5. ↑ Oconitrillo García, Eduardo (2004). Cien años de política costarricense: 1902-2002, de Ascensión Esquivel a Abel Pacheco. EUNED. ISBN 9789968313605.
  6. ↑ "Elecciones Regidurías 1982". tse.go.cr (in Spanish). Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
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