2013 Social Christian Unity Party presidential primary
The 2013 presidential primary of the Social Christian Unity Party of Costa Rica was held on May 9, 2013 as part of the 2014 Costa Rican general election. The two main traditional factions of PUSC competed for the nomination. On one hand physician and director of Costa Rica's Children's Hospital Dr. Rodolfo Hernández, and on the other lawyer, businessman and former president of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund Rodolfo Piza. This was PUSC's fifth primary election in its history and the first in twelve years.
Hernández was nominated by the group “Calderonista Convergence”, close to former president Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier who personally endorsed Hernández and followed the “Calderonism” whilst Piza was endorsed by the Social Christian Rebirth group, part of the more right-wing Liberal faction lead by former president Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Echeverría. On this election Piza had the support of Dr. Abel Pacheco's faction including Pacheco himself and his Prime Minister Ricardo Toledo.
Hernández won the primary by a landslide victory with 77% of the votes and nominates Piza as his Vice-President. Nevertheless, Hernández would resign his candidacy a few months later accusing the Party’s leadership of treacheries and backstabbing. Piza took over the candidacy reaching only 6% of popular vote on the presidential ballot, but increasing its support for Congress to the point of duplicating its number of deputies.
