After her main rivals Otton Solis and Otto Guevara conceded defeat and congratulated her as the country’s first female president in history, ruling party candidate Laura Chinchilla declared victory Sunday night in Costa Rica’s presidential election.

Chinchilla won 46.8 percent of the vote from 67.9 percent of the votes counted by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. Under the country’s constitution, a candidate is required to gain at least 40 percent of the popular votes to win outright.

Chinchilla was born on March 28, 1959 in San Jose. She majored in political science at the University of Costa Rica in 1977. In 1986, she got a master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and, in 1989, returned to Costa Rica to start her professional career as a consultant.

She became vice minister of public security in 1994, and the first female minister of public security from 1996 to 1998. In 2002, Chinchilla was elected member of the Legislative Assembly and, four years later, became vice president for incumbent President Oscar Arias.

(article source: Xinhua, photo source: Reuters)