In Chile's presidential elections on November 16, 2025, Franco Parisi of the PDG secured a surprising third place with 19.5% of the votes, surpassing Evelyn Matthei and Johannes Kaiser. His over 2.3 million votes position him as a decisive actor for the runoff between Jeannette Jara (26.8%) and José Antonio Kast (24%). Parisi conditioned his support on concrete gestures from the finalists, avoiding immediate commitments.
Chile's 2025 presidential election, marked by mandatory voting, saw Franco Parisi of the PDG as the major surprise by finishing third with 2,346,280 votes (19.55%), tripling his 899,403 votes from 2021 (12.8%). This outcome positions him as a 'key elector' for the December 14 runoff between Jeannette Jara of the PC and José Antonio Kast of the Republican Party, who advanced with 26.8% and 24% respectively, according to 92.66% of tables scrutinized.
Parisi, PDG economist, projected at least 1.8 million votes based on social media interactions, and after voting in La Reina reiterated his confidence: 'Social networks are saying loud and clear Parisi President'. His voter profile —male, from regions, aged 30-45, middle and lower-middle classes— matched the compulsory electorate, estimated at 6 million, according to analyst Juan Pablo Lavín of Panel Ciudadano.
In his 21:20 speech from his command at Ricardo Lyon, Parisi criticized pollsters —'we lost, but because of the scoundrels of the pollsters'— and avoided commitments: 'I'm not signing blank checks to anyone... Earn the votes. I need gestures from them. PDG doesn't need any favors'. Analysts like Camilo Feres of Descifra highlight that Parisi appealed to the 'aspirational middle class' seeking to 'hack the system', an electorate underrepresented in polls and hard to reach.
Overseas voting reinforced trends: Jara led in Argentina (50%), Spain (50%), Sweden (80%), and New Zealand (55%), while Matthei won in China and Kast in Malaysia and Israel. Parisi's breakthrough complicates the scenario for Jara, whose officialist coalition did not exceed 30%, generating self-criticism in her team about capturing his votes. Kast, meanwhile, called for unity, receiving support from Kaiser. This result reflects a fragmented electorate, with the right summing nearly 50% and concerns over security and immigration dominating the campaign.