According to La Tercera, opposition mayors Tomás Vodanovic (Maipú), Claudio Castro (Renca) and Karina Delfino (Quinta Normal) have been coordinating for months to support one another in the race for the Santiago governorship. The election of governors, mayors and regional councilors will take place on October 29, 2028.
The trio brings together three strands of the center-left. Vodanovic belongs to the Broad Front, Castro is an independent and Delfino is a socialist. According to the newspaper, the three seek to develop local proposals for a progressive project and coordinate their near-term electoral plans.
The position is up for grabs because the current governor, Claudio Orrego, is serving his second term and cannot run again. According to La Tercera, the mayors' initiative also prompted the governing coalition to accelerate its search for candidates.
The metropolitan governorship draws more votes than any other elected office in the country except the presidency. In the 2024 election, 6,010,950 people were eligible to vote, and 83.9% went to the polls. That voter base puts the winner in a strong position to later compete for the Senate or La Moneda.
"There is coordination built on considerable trust and friendship," one member of the group told the newspaper without identifying themselves. The same source said the election would shape the mood in which progressives approach the 2029 presidential election.
Castro currently has priority to run. He is serving his third term in Renca and cannot seek reelection. "Yes, obviously I'm very interested," he acknowledged last week on Radio Duna. In that interview, he brought other mayors into the strategy, including Gustavo Toro (DC, San Ramón), Javiera Reyes (PC, Lo Espejo) and Maximiliano Ríos (PPD, Lo Prado).
The coordination began toward the end of Gabriel Boric's government, before the left's electoral defeat by current President José Antonio Kast. One of its objectives was to organize work within the Association of Municipalities. On February 3, 2025, the three posted a photo at the Torremolinos restaurant in the Lastarria neighborhood with the message "Little things are coming".
According to the newspaper, the group receives technical support from Fundación Horizonte Ciudadano, created by former President Michelle Bachelet, through its executive director, Eolo Díaz-Tendero.
Orrego also participates in the discussions. On October 4, he told The Clinic that he would love a mayor, preferably from his political camp, to succeed him. He has not clarified his own future. The nearly 2.5 million votes he received in November 2024 make him a potential Senate or presidential candidate, an option supported by sectors of the PS, PPD and DC. The election is a little more than two years away.
