percent of the vote, only 110 votes more than Juan Carlos Mendoza García. In October 2013, he chose Helio Fallas and Ana Helena Chacón Echeverría as his Vice-Presidential running mates. Among his aims, Solís claimed he would clean up corruption, create major investments in infrastructure, and shore up Costa Rica's universal health care and social security system. He also promised to continue initiatives to keep Costa Rica environmentally friendly. He said that he would "put the brakes" on new free trade agreements and would begin correctly administrating current free trade agreements. As such, Solís received a tremendous amount of political support from the country's trade unions. On 2 February 2014, Solís won the most votes in the election with 30.95 percent. PLN candidate Johnny Araya came second with 29.95 percent of the vote. Most of Solís' support came from the Central Valley provinces of San José, Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago. Because no candidate exceeded 40 percent of the vote, a runoff was scheduled for 6 April, as required by the constitution. However, on 5 March, Araya announced that he would abandon his campaign after polls showed him far behind Solís; one poll showed him losing by over 43 percent. However, under Costa Rican law the runoff still had to take place, and Solís won with over 77 percent of the vote, the largest margin ever recorded for a free election in Costa Rica. Unlike the first round, Solís earned a majority in every province, including Puntarenas, Limón, and Guanacaste. When he took office on 8 May, he was the first president in 66 years not to come from the PLN or what is now the PUSC. Immediately after the election, Solís thanked Costa Rican voters. He received congratulatory notes from world leaders, including US Secretary of State John Kerry, Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Bolivian President Evo Morales, and the spokesperson from the French Ministry of International Affairs. For his part, Araya congratulated Solís on his victory, calling for national unity. Presidency A little over a week before taking office, in April 2014, Solís announced the creation of his cabinet. His cabinet consists of mostly PAC members or non-aligned citizens. However, two PUSC members were also added: María del Rocío Sáenz, Abel Pacheco's former health minister, heads the Costa Rican Social Security System (Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social). Delia Villalobos, another former