Chile's presidential race heads to a polarizing runoff after Sunday vote
toggle caption Natacha Pisarenko/AP
SANTIAGO, Chile — Chile is headed to a tense presidential runoff after a closely fought first-round vote Sunday set up a showdown between a member of the Communist Party and an ultraconservative veteran politician, sharply polarizing the country between the political left and right.
Jeannette Jara, 51, the communist former labor minister and candidate of Chile's center-left governing coalition, won 26.8% of valid ballots with almost 100% of the vote counted, failing to pass the 50% threshold to secure victory in the first round.
José Antonio Kast, 59, a hard-right former lawmaker and devout Catholic opposed to same-sex marriage and abortion, captured almost 24% of the vote, underscoring the appeal of his law-and-order platform as a surge in organized crime rattles one of Latin America's safest nations and foments anti-migrant sentiment among Chileans.
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After learning he would advance to the next round, Kast urged the country's fractured right to unite behind him, framing the runoff as an existential struggle for Chile's
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