Laura Fernández Delgado
Laura Virginia Fernández Delgado is a Costa Rican politician and political scientist who is the president-elect of Costa Rica after she won the 2026 general election as the presidential candidate of the Sovereign People's Party. She previously served as the minister of national planning and economic policy from 2022 to 2025 and the Minister of the Presidency from 2024 to 2025.
Early life
Laura Virginia Fernández Delgado was born on 4 July 1986 in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. She studied public politics and democratic governability at the University of Costa Rica.Political career
From 2008 to 2010, Fernández was a consultant for the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Policy's State Reform Program as a member of the German Agency for Technical Cooperation. She became a civil servant within the ministry in 2010 and a modernization and dispatch advisor until 2014. Fernández was an advisor to the Legislative Assembly from 2014 to 2018 on matters regarding public spending, finance, income, and government reforms. During the 2018 presidential election, Fernández was one of vice presidential candidates.In 2018, Fernández became a researcher for the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Policy. She researched government cooperation, public employment, and administrative reform. She was briefly the director of strategic planning for the municipality of Cartago from 2020 to 2021 before resuming her role as a researcher for the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Policy. On 8 May 2022, President Rodrigo Chaves Robles appointed Fernández as the minister of national planning and economic policy. Chaves also appointed Fernández as Minister of the Presidency on 21 June 2024, succeeding. On 11 July 2024, she signed a decree establishing 30 July as a day to commemorate women's suffrage in Costa Rica. On 31 January 2025, Fernández resigned from her ministerial positions to be eligible to run as a presidential candidate in the 2026 presidential election.
President-elect of Costa Rica
On 29 July 2025, Fernández officially announced her presidential candidacy as a member of the Sovereign People's Party. She presented herself as a continuation of Chaves's presidency, as Chaves is term limited, and as a supporter of Chavism. Fernández was one of 20 presidential candidates and one of five female candidates. She was elected president with 48.3% of the vote.Fernández will sworn in on 8 May 2026 as the second female president of Costa Rica after Laura Chinchilla.