2013 Chilean presidential primaries
The Chilean presidential primaries of 2013 were held in Chile on Sunday 30 June 2013. It was the first such election to be run by the government under a new primary law published in December 2012.
According to the law, primaries are voluntary, but its results are binding. The two main political coalitions decided to participate: Former president Michelle Bachelet won the Nueva Mayoría primary with 73% of the vote, while former senator and minister Pablo Longueira won the Alianza primary with 51%.
Longueira withdrew on 17 July and was replaced by Evelyn Matthei, who had not participated in the primaries. Bachelet defeated Matthei in the runoff election held on 15 December 2013.
Candidates
Alianza candidates
Both candidates were officially registered on 1 May 2013. Affiliates from both Alianza parties plus independent electors were allowed to vote.| Candidate | Remarks |
Andrés Allamand | The former Minister of Defense said on 22 April 2012 that he was willing to participate with Laurence Golborne and Pablo Longueira in a three-way primary. He was proclaimed as candidate by his party on 6 November 2012. |
Pablo Longueira | The Minister of Economy was proclaimed as his party's candidate minutes after the resignation of then candidate Laurence Golborne on 29 April 2013. He left his cabinet post a day later. |
Declined candidacy
- Laurence Golborne, held several ministerial posts during Sebastián Piñera's tenure. On 4 November 2012 he said he was willing to become the right's candidate for president. On 17 November 2012 he was proclaimed as the right's pre-candidate by the Independent Democratic Union. On 29 Abril 2013, Golborne declined his candidacy after the Supreme Court fined his former employer Cencosud for illegally raising credit card maintenance fees, which Golborne as chief executive officer of the company had approved. At the same time there were press reports of Golborne having offshore accounts in the British Virgin Islands, that he had not properly registered in his property statement.
Nueva Mayoría candidates
All four candidates were officially registered on 30 April 2013. Affiliates from all Nueva Mayoría parties plus independent electors were allowed to vote.| Candidate | Remarks | - | - |
Michelle Bachelet | The former president from 2006 to 2010 declared her intention to run for the presidency on 27 March 2013 during an act in El Bosque Commune, a few hours after arriving from New York City, where she had been working as head of UN Women before quitting two weeks before. On 7 April 2013 the Broad Social Movement proclaimed Bachelet as their candidate. On 13 April 2013 Bachelet was proclaimed by the PS and the PPD, as agreed on in December 2012. On 25 May 2013 both the Communist Party and the Citizen Left movement decided to support Bachelet's candidacy. | - | - |
José Antonio Gómez | Current senator. He says he will compete in a Concertación primary as long as they are held in a transparent way. Otherwise he says he may run directly as president outside of the coalition. On 30 June 2013 he was proclaimed by the PRSD as their pre-candidate for a Concertación primary. | - | - |
Claudio Orrego | - | - | - |
| Candidate | Votes | % | Result |
| Claudio Orrego | 33,175 | 59.2 | PDC candidate |
| Ximena Rincón | 22,853 | 40.8 | |
| Valid votes | 56,028 | 100.0 | |
| Null and blank votes | 235 | 0.4 | |
| Total votes | 56,263 | 100.0 |
Primary results
Official and final results.Source: .
Timeline
- April 29, 2013: Golborne quits race, replaced by Longueira on same day.
- May 1, 2013: Deadline to register in primaries.
- May 31, 2013: Primary campaign advertising starts.
- June 27, 2013: Primary campaign advertising ends.
- June 30, 2013: Primaries held simultaneously nationwide.