SANTIAGO, Chile -- Chile is headed to a tense presidential runoff after a first-round vote Sunday set up a showdown between a member of the Communist Party and an ultra-conservative veteran politician, sharply polarizing the country between the political left and right.

Jeannette Jara, 51, the communist former labor minister and candidate of Chile's center-left governing coalition, claimed more than 26% of valid ballots with over 80% of the vote counted, failing to pass the 50% threshold to secure victory in the first round.

"This is a great country," she said from her campaign headquarters in Santiago, Chile's capital. "I want to give everyone who voted for me a warm hug."

José Antonio Kast, 59, a hard-right former lawmaker and devout Catholic opposed to same-sex marriage and abortion,

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