José Antonio Kast

José Antonio Kast Rist (born 18 January 1966) is a Chilean lawyer and politician who is the President-elect of Chile. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 2002 until 2018. He was a member of the Independent Democratic Union until 2016, and independent until 2019. In 2019, he created the Chilean Republican Party.

Kast ran for president three times: in 2017, 2021 and 2025. In December 2025, Kast was elected as the 38th president of Chile, after he defeated Jeannette Jara in the 2025 December run-off election.

Early life
Kast was born in Santiago, Chile on 18 January 1966 into a German family. His parents were Michael Kast Schindele (1924–2014) and Olga Rist Hagspiel (1924–2015), both originally from Bavaria. Michael Kast was a lieutenant in the German Army during World War II and a member of the Nazi Party. His parents immigrated to Chile in the 1950s.

Kast studied law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. During his college years, he took part in protests supporting the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

After college, Kast founded a law firm in 1990. He was also the director of a real estate company owned by his family in the 1990s.

Presidential campaigns
Kast ran for president as an independent candidate in the 2017 election. He ran again in the 2021 Chilean general election, advancing to the second round, however lost in the run-off election to Gabriel Boric.Gabriel Boric, a Former Student Activist, Is Elected Chile’s Youngest President

In November 2024, the Republican Party confirmed Kast as its candidate for the first round of the 2025 presidential election. In August 2025, Kast officially registered his campaign under the slogan La fuerza del cambio (“The Strength of Change”). Kast would go on to beat Jeannette Jara in the December run-off election.

 Personal life 
Kast is married to María Pía Adriasola. The couple has nine children.

Views
His political views have been called by some media and scholars as far-right and conservative. His social views and the way his election victory helped conservatives win across Chile in 2025 has been compared with the Reagan era in the United States.

References

Other websites

  (in Spanish)
 Biography by CIDOB (in Spanish)

Category:1966 births
Category:Living people
Category:Politicians from Santiago
Category:Chilean lawyers
Category:Chilean businesspeople
Category:Chilean activists