26 October 2014 (first round)
30 November 2014 (second round) 2019 → 56.63% 43.37% | 1,226,105 939,074 Start date October 26, 2014 | |
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Winner Tabaré Vázquez | ||
General elections were held in Uruguay on 26 October 2014, alongside a constitutional referendum. Since no presidential candidate received an absolute majority, a runoff took place on 30 November 2014. Primary elections had been held on 1 June 2014.
Contents
Incumbent President José Mujica was ineligible to run owing to a constitutional limit on serving consecutive terms. The governing Broad Front nominated former President Tabaré Vázquez as its candidate, with Vázquez defeating Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou of the National Party in the second round of voting by the widest margin since the run-off system was first implemented in 1999. The Broad Front also maintained its majority in the Chamber of Deputies, winning 50 of the 99 seats.
Campaign
There were around 250,000 new voters in this election, many of them not used to traditional media. Campaign managers and advertising agents took notice of this new trend, and implemented an important portion of their campaign via social media.
Candidates
According to the opinion polls, the political landscape remained stable, due to the fact that most serious candidates had already run on the previous election. In the ruling coalition Broad Front, former president Tabare Vazquez who had left office in 2010 with approval ratings above 60%, was challenged by senator Constanza Moreira. The major surprise was the rise of representative Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou from the conservative faction of the National Party, and his narrow victory over the more liberal former presidential candidate and senator Jorge Larrañaga:
Many other smaller parties, most of them newly created, also took part in the elections and put forward presidential condidates:
Results
Within the Broad Front coalition, Movement of Popular Participation won six seats in the Senate, the Liber Seregni Front won three and the Socialist Party won two. Following the second round of the presidential elections, the Broad Front gained an extra seat in the Senate, giving them a majority, as Vice President Raúl Fernando Sendic Rodríguez automatically became a member.