Understanding Chile's 2025 Presidential Primary

Primaries are optional in Chile. If parties choose to not have a primary, they can instead elect a candidate through an internal process and present them directly to voters in the first round. If a coalition chooses to hold a primary, each party within the coalition can nominate a candidate to run. Independent candidates may also run in a coalition’s primary but must meet certain legal standards and be invited by the coalition to run. 

First, though, in order to run for president independently at all, candidates must collect a certain number of signatures from registered voters. This must amount to 0.5 percent of the number of people who voted in the last election for the lower chamber of Congress. This year’s election requires that independent candidates gather 35,361 signatures to qualify. 

The winner of the primary becomes the official candidate of the coalition in the first round, regardless of whether they belong to one of its member parties. 

The primary system was introduced in 2012 under President Sebastian Piñera. Before the law was enacted, parties would select their candidates through internal processes or informal coalition elections. The new system established a formal and regulated procedure.

Though participation is not mandatory, every president elected under the current system won their respective coalition’s primary. That includes President Boric in 2021. His opponent in the presidential runoff, Jose Antonio Kast, chose to skip the primaries and ran directly in the first round. 

Unity for Chile is holding the only presidential primary this year. The candidates include former Minister of the Interior Carolina Tohá of the Democratic Socialism party (Socialismo Democrático), Labor Minister Jeannette Jara of the Communist Party (Partido Comunista), and two congressional deputies, Gonzalo Winter of the Broad Front (Frente Amplio) and Jaime Mulet of the Social Green Regionalist Federation (Federación Regionalista Verde Social). 

There are no polls focused specifically on the primary, but a June CADEM poll that included all presidential candidates showed 8 percent support for Jara and 7 percent for Tohá. Neither of the other two Unity for Chile primary candidates surpassed 5 percent. 

Tohá grew up partially in exile after her father was murdered during Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship. She returned to Chile in 1979 and later became involved in politics during the transition to democracy. She has since served as a congressional deputy (2002– 2009), government spokesperson (2009), mayor of Santiago (2012– 2016), and most recently as minister of the Interior under Boric (2022– 2025). She stepped down in March 2025 to announce her presidential candidacy. Despite her extensive political career, Tohá faced criticism during her time in Boric’s cabinet from what some see as a failure to curb rising crime rates and for her slow response to sexual assault charges against her former undersecretary. Her campaign is focused on public safety initiatives, expanding healthcare provision and housing services, and promoting economic growth through targeted public investment. 

Jara, like Tohá, was also part of Boric’s Cabinet and stepped down from her post to run for president. She rose to national prominence as Boric’s minister of labor and social security for her major reforms to the pension system and implementation of the 40-hour workweek. She previously served as the subsecretary for social security during the second term of President Michelle Bachelet (2006-2010, 2014-2018). Jara’s agenda focuses on improving labor protections, job creation, and the elimination of the privately run AFP pension system. 

Winter is currently serving as a national deputy for Santiago and is close ally of President Boric. As candidate of Boric’s Broad Front, he is regarded as the successor of Boric’s political movement.

Mulet is a veteran politician who has served in Congress since 1997, representing Atacama. He is known for championing the interests of the rural areas of Chile.

The right and centre-right parties failed to organize an election despite pleas from candidate Evelyn Matthei. She called the absent primary a missed “opportunity to win in the first round and secure a parliamentary majority,” and claimed both Kast and Johannes Kaiser, two other candidates on the right with strong polling, refused to participate.