The Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE) banned all politicking during the holidays, but come the first days of the new year and the television, radio and newspapers commercials have all reappeared.

 
And so have the polls.
 
The latest poll by Borge & Asociados shows Laura Chinchilla of the Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN) maitained her lead with a 36.7% approval rate, followed by Otto Guevara of the Movimiento Libertario (ML) with 16.2%
 
Although Chinchilla still has a commanding lead over Guevara, her support has dropped in the past months, when in November she showed a 46.3%, while Guevara has climbed from November's 14.4%.
 
Holding third place is Ottón Solís of the Partido Acción Cuidadana (PAC) with an 8.5% approval rate and Luis Fishman of the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) holding a measily 2.2%.
 
When asked which party they identified with, the response was 40.5% for the PLN, 10.3% for the PUSC, 8.7% for the ML, 5.8% for the PAC, 0.4% for the PASE and 32.6% not sure or did not respond.
 
For any candidate to win the February 7, 2010 elections, they need to gain 40% or more of the vote, anything less an there will be a run off elections between the top two candidates.
 
The surprise this election is the popularity of Otto Guevara, taking second spot away from the Ottón Solís who missed winning against Arias in 2006 by a narrow margin.
 
The Guevara strategy is play on the insecurity faced by Costa Ricans and corruption and waste in government, a government by Arias who has chosen Chinchilla to follow his legacy.
 
Chinchilla resigned as first vice-president of Costa Rica in the Arias administration to run for the presidency. And although Arias cannot publicly show his support for any candidate, he has been known to favour Chinchilla, something that he was scolded by the TSE in the days preceding the official start of the election campaign.
 
As to Luis Fishman and the PUSC party, there is no surprise there.
 
The PUSC has alternated the presidency in Costa Rica with the PLN for decades. However, marred by the corruption scandals of two former presidents, Rafael Angel Calderón and Miguel Angel Rodriguez, the party has suffered greatly.

 
Fishman is the party's second and last minute choice after Calderón was found guilty of embezzlement by a court last October and resigned his party's presidential nomination.