The Costa Rica News (TCRN) – The presidential candidate of the ruling National Liberation Party (PLN), Johnny Araya, and the opposition from the Citizen Action Party (PAC), Luis Guillermo Solís, have declared their campaigns for the second round, on April 6.
Johnny Araya, who was the mayor of San Jose for just over two decades, told The Nation that for the election campaign in the next two months before the second round he will be more focused on social networking and volunteering.
“Here we have a new year. We have a great challenge to engage many areas of the central plateau, middle-class youth. People are more moved by social networking advertising or partisan organization,” Araya said.
The PLN candidate had very good support from the coastal areas, but not in the center of the country, which now becomes a challenge for the second round.
Moreover, social networking was a hit in the campaign of opposition Luis Guillermo Solis, who had more presence than any of the 13 candidates.
According to Solis, his strengths in the first election were managing social networks, getting youth participation and his advertising approach.
The candidate of the PAC said to The Nation that his campaign will now be more focused on talking to people directly.
Both the PAC and the PLN collected about 5,200 million colones (about $10.2 million U.S. dollars) in contributions to their campaigns.
However, during the first round, Solis spent only 1,500 million colones (about $2.9 million), while Araya, spent three times as much, about 4,500 million colones (about $8.8 million).
In the preliminary voting results of the TSE, Solis achieved 30.95% support, while Johnny Araya scored a 29.56%.
The TSE is conducting a manual recount to announce the final results in the coming days. (ACAN-EFE)
The Costa Rica News (TCRN)
San Jose Costa Rica