Laura Virginia Fernández Delgado (; born 4 July 1986) is a Costa Rican politician, political scientist and the president-elect of Costa Rica. As the presidential candidate of the Sovereign People's Party, Fernández won the 2026 presidential election. She previously served as the minister of national planning and economic policy from 2022 to 2025, as well as the minister of the presidency from 2024 to 2025.
Fernández was born on 4 July 1986 in Puntarenas and studied politics and democratic governance at the University of Costa Rica.
From 2008 to 2010, Fernández was a consultant for the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Policy's State Reform Program as a member of the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GIZ). She became a civil servant in the ministry in 2010 and served as a modernization and dispatch advisor until 2014. Fernández was an advisor to the Legislative Assembly from 2014 to 2018 on matters regarding public spending, finance, income, and government reforms. During the 2018 Costa Rican presidential election, Fernández was one of vice presidential candidates.
In 2018, Fernández became a researcher at the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Policy, focusing on government cooperation, public employment, and administrative reform. From 2020 to 2021, she served as director of strategic planning for the municipality of Cartago, before returning to her role as a researcher at the ministry. On 8 May 2022, President Rodrigo Chaves Robles appointed Fernández as the minister of national planning and economic policy. Chaves also appointed Fernández as Minister of the Presidency on 21 June 2024, succeeding . On 11 July 2024, she signed a decree establishing 30 July as a day to commemorate women's suffrage in Costa Rica. On 31 January 2025, Fernández resigned from her ministerial positions to be eligible to run as a presidential candidate in the 2026 Costa Rican presidential election.
On 29 July 2025, Fernández officially announced her presidential candidacy as a member of the Sovereign People's Party (PPSO). She presented herself as a continuation of Chaves's presidency, as Chaves is term limited, and as a supporter of Chavism. Fernández was one of twenty presidential candidates and one of five female candidates. She was elected president with 48.3% of the vote.
Her victory was congratulated by many Latin American leaders, the Prime Minister of Spain and the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Fernández resumed her role as Minister of the Presidency on 4 February.
Fernández will be sworn in on 8 May 2026 as the second female president of Costa Rica after Laura Chinchilla. Supporting a "Third Republic" in Costa Rica, she has pledged to reform the government, fight corruption, expand free enterprise, and promote trade, in addition to strengthening Costa RicaâÂÂIsrael relations.
She is described as right-wing populist.