General elections were held in Costa Rica on 11 February 1940.Nohlen, D (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I'', p155

Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia (March 8, 1900 – June 9, 1970) was a Costa Rican medical doctor and politician, who served as President from 1940 to 1944. Early life Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia was born on 8 March 1900 in San José. In his ...

of the

Independent National Republican Party The National Republican Party ( es, Partido Republicano Nacional; PRN) was a political party in Costa Rica. History A loosely liberal party was founded under the leadership of Máximo Fernández Alvarado known simply as Republican Party in 190 ...

won the presidential election. Voter turnout was 80.8% in the presidential election and 65.6% in the parliamentary election.Nohlen, p156 Since 1938, two tendencies had begun to emerge in the ranks of the Republican Party, one revolving around the popular ex president

Ricardo Jiménez Oreamuno Romualdo Ricardo Jiménez Oreamuno (February 6, 1859 – January 4, 1945) served as president of Costa Rica on three occasions: 1910–1914, 1924–1928 and 1932–1936. He was one of the best known lawyers in Costa Rican history and a Univers ...

and another around the young doctor and charismatic politician

Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California * Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israeli manufacturer of weapons and military technology * Hurricane Rafael, a 2012 hurricane Fiction * ''R ...

. Jiménez, however, an old man, would gradually leave power and influence, and the "Jimenismo" lost ground to Calderonismo, which also has full support from the government chaired by

León Cortés Castro León Cortés Castro (December 8, 1882 – March 3, 1946) was a Costa Rican politician. He served as President of Costa Rica from 1936 to 1940. During his term he introduced new bank reforms, supported banana plantations in the South Pacific reg ...

who pressures Jiménez into retirement. To prevent a triumph of the Calderonismo a coalition was tried between the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

, a faction of the jimenismo and the Social Democratic Guanacastecan Brotherhood called National Democratic Alliance, nevertheless when Jiménez declines to be candidate this is broken so the parties that integrate it ran separately. During the National Republican Convention Calderón is selected presidential nominee and wins the elections.

Results

President

References

{{Costa Rican elections 1940 elections in Central America 1940 in Costa Rica Elections in Costa Rica