Why Chile’s Election Could Still Deliver a Surprise

Chile’s upcoming presidential election might look like a race that’s effectively over. Polls show billionaire and opposition leader Sebastian Pinera, the pro-business former president, with more than double the support of any other candidate ahead of a Nov. 19 vote. His rivals in the center-left ruling coalition, which has governed Chile for 23 of the past 27 years, are divided. And with the economy sluggish, many Chileans say they’re ready for change. Yet, it’s not inevitable that they will vote the right-wing back into power for only the second time since democracy was restored in Chile after the 17-year dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

Pinera’s support has edged above 40 percent in the past week, according to weekly polls by Plaza Publica. That compares with as much as 20 percent for his two leading rivals, Alejandro Guillier from the ruling coalition and Beatriz Sanchez from the left-wing Broad Front. A second candidate from the governing alliance, Carolina Goic of the Christian Democrats, polled 5 percent in a recent survey.