1974 Costa Rican general election

1974 Costa Rican general election

3 February 1974
Presidential election
Turnout	79.92% ( 3.42pp)
Nominee Daniel Oduber Fernando Trejos Escalante Party PLN UN Popular vote 294,609 Percentage 43.44% 30.40%   Nominee Jorge González Martén Rodrigo Carazo Odio Party PNI PRD Popular vote 73,788 61,820 Percentage 10.88% 9.12%
Results by province
President before election José Figueres PLN Elected President Daniel Oduber PLN
Legislative election
All 57 seats in the Legislative Assembly 29 seats needed for a majority
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– PLN Daniel Oduber Quirós 40.88 27 −5 UN Fernando Trejos Escalante 24.71 16 −6 PNI Jorge González Martén 9.96 6 New PRD Rodrigo Carazo Odio 7.68 3 New PRN Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier 4.88 1 New PASO Manuel Mora Valverde 4.41 2 0 Democratic Gerardo Villalobos Garita 2.13 1 New PUAC Juan Guillermo Brenes Castillo 1.21 1 +1 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Results by province

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 3 February 1974. Daniel Oduber Quirós of the National Liberation Party won the presidential election, whilst his party also won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 80%.

The Left was theoretically outlawed as the Constitution didn't allow the existence of Marxist parties, but the prohibition was not endorsed in practice by that time and even was lifted with a Constitutional reform for the next election.

Campaign

The government’s popularity suffered due to the “Vesco Case,” a major corruption scandal involving President José Figueres and his alleged ties to international fugitive Robert Vesco. The controversy became a central issue in the campaign, with the presence of Vesco in the country used by all opposition candidates against the ruling National Liberation Party (PLN) nominee, congressman Daniel Oduber.

Rodrigo Carazo, a former PLN member and congressman who had previously competed against Figueres in a primary, ran under the Democratic Renewal Party. He pledged to expel Vesco if elected and received the endorsement of former president José Joaquín Trejos. Vesco's presence in the country was a theme used by all the candidates against the PLN.

The right-wing opposition, grouped under the National Unification Party, also selected its candidate through an internal convention. Guillermo Villalobos Arce had the backing of the party leadership, including president Francisco Calderón Guardia (brother of former president Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia). Fernando Ortuño Sobrado enjoyed strong business sector support and significant funding, while Fernando Trejos Escalante, a physician and cousin of former president Trejos, was considered the weakest contender. In a surprise result, Trejos Escalante won the nomination, but was later defeated by Oduber in the general election.

Cold War tensions also shaped the campaign, with communism emerging as another major theme. Diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union became a contentious issue, as candidate Jorge González Martén promised to end them if elected. The Catholic Church issued a statement condemning both communism and unrestrained capitalism, calling instead for a “third option.” Both the PLN, a social democratic party, and the Christian Democratic Party claimed to represent that alternative. Manuel Mora’s Socialist Action Party, representing the traditional left, countered criticism by noting that former archbishop Víctor Manuel Sanabria had stated Costa Rican Catholics could join the Communist Party. Meanwhile, the far-right Free Costa Rica Movement ran an expensive media campaign against Mora’s party.

Another notable figure in the race was Gerardo Wenceslao Villalobos, known as “GW,” the candidate of the Democratic Party. Villalobos gained attention for his unconventional campaign tactics, which included participating in boxing and wrestling matches and attempting a parachute jump.

Results

President

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Daniel Oduber Quirós	National Liberation Party	294,609	43.44
	Fernando Trejos Escalante	National Unification Party	206,149	30.40
	Jorge González Martén	National Independent Party	73,788	10.88
	Rodrigo Carazo Odio	Democratic Renewal Party	61,820	9.12
	Gerardo Villalobos Garita	Democratic Party	18,832	2.78
	Manuel Mora Valverde	Socialist Action Party	16,081	2.37
	Jorge Arturo Monge Zamora	Christian Democratic Party	3,461	0.51
	José Francisco Aguilar Bulgarelli	Costa Rican Socialist Party	3,417	0.50
Total			678,157	100.00
Valid votes			678,157	96.97
Invalid votes			16,160	2.31
Blank votes			5,023	0.72
Total votes			699,340	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			875,041	79.92
Source: Election Resources

By province

Province	Oduber %	Trejos %	González %	Carazo %	Villalobos %	Mora %	Monge %	Aguilar %
San José	42.7	29.4	9.0	12.2	3.8	2.0	0.5	0.5
Alajuela	45.6	28.4	12.5	9.8	1.7	1.1	0.4	0.5
Cartago	43.6	29.4	15.9	5.9	2.7	1.5	0.6	0.5
Heredia	42.9	29.9	11.0	9.5	3.0	2.5	0.7	0.4
Puntarenas	39.5	36.3	11.0	4.5	2.2	5.5	0.5	0.5
Limón	38.8	39.4	7.7	3.4	2.4	7.1	0.5	0.6
Guanacaste	49.6	30.0	11.5	4.9	0.8	2.0	0.8	0.5
Total	43.4	30.4	10.9	9.1	2.8	2.4	0.5	0.5

Parliament

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	National Liberation Party	271,867	40.88	27	–5
	National Unification Party	164,323	24.71	16	–6
	National Independent Party	66,222	9.96	6	New
	Democratic Renewal Party	51,082	7.68	3	New
	National Republican Party	32,475	4.88	1	New
	Socialist Action Party	29,310	4.41	2	0
	Democratic Party	14,161	2.13	1	New
	Christian Democratic Party	13,688	2.06	0	–1
	Cartago Agrarian Union Party	8,074	1.21	1	+1
	Costa Rican Socialist Party	6,032	0.91	0	New
	Costa Rican Peoples' Front	4,448	0.67	0	New
	Independent Party	3,282	0.49	0	New
Total		664,964	100.00	57	0
Valid votes		664,964	95.13
Invalid votes		21,111	3.02
Blank votes		12,967	1.85
Total votes		699,042	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		875,041	79.89
Source: Election Resources

By province

Province	PLN		PUN		PNI		PRD		PRN		PASO		PD		PDC		PUAC		PSC		FPCR		PI
	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S
San José	40.1	9	23.4	5	8.7	2	10.1	2	5.6	1	4.3	1	2.8	1	1.7	0	-	-	1.4	0	1.4	0	0.6	0
Alajuela	44.3	5	25.1	3	11.9	2	9.2	1	2.7	0	1.9	0	3.0	0	0.8	0	-	-	0.8	0	-	-	0.3	0
Cartago	38.1	3	23.6	2	11.9	1	3.9	0	2.7	0	2.3	0	1.3	0	3.8	0	11.1	1	0.6	0	-	-	0.7	0
Heredia	41.1	2	22.7	1	9.8	0	7.4	0	7.4	0	5.7	0	1.5	0	3.5	0	-	-	0.7	0	-	-	0.3	0
Puntarenas	38.3	3	29.8	2	10.6	1	4.0	0	5.7	0	7.3	1	1.1	0	1.4	0	-	-	0.5	0	0.8	0	0.6	0
Limón	36.9	2	32.6	1	7.1	0	2.3	0	5.0	0	13.9	0	0.9	0	0.8	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.5	0
Guanacaste	46.0	3	23.9	2	10.4	1	5.1	0	5.8	0	3.2	0	0.4	0	4.4	0	-	-	0.3	0	-	-	0.3	0
Total	40.9	27	24.7	16	10.0	6	7.7	3	4.9	1	4.4	2	2.1	1	2.1	0	1.2	1	0.9	0	0.7	0	0.5	0

Local governments

Party		Votes	%	Seats
				Alderpeople	+/–	Municipal syndics	+/–
	National Liberation Party	281,067	42.44	225	+38	350	+34
	National Unification Party	174,178	26.30	150	+17	37	–9
	National Independent Party	67,802	10.24	48	New	2	New
	Democratic Renewal Party	57,036	8.61	24	New	0	New
	National Republican Party	30,551	4.61	12	New	1	New
	Socialist Action Party	27,614	4.17	8	+4	0	0
	Christian Democratic Party	14,215	2.15	0	–2	0	0
	Costa Rican Socialist Party	4,720	0.71	0	New	0	New
	Democratic Party	2,456	0.37	0	New	0	New
	Costa Rican Peoples' Front	1,588	0.24	0	New	0	New
	Independent Party	1,035	0.16	0	New	0	New
Total		662,262	100.00	467	+138	390	+27
Valid votes		662,262	94.72
Invalid/blank votes		36,949	5.28
Total votes		699,211	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		875,041	79.91
Source: TSE