An evangelical presidential candidate in Costa Rica suffered defeat in the elections on Sunday, but despite his loss, he took the opportunity to praise God in his concession speech.
Former evangelical singer Fabricio Alvarado Munoz had been the front runner in the first round of the presidential elections, but on Sunday he was defeated by Citizen's Action Party candidate Carlos Alvarado Quesada.
In his concession speech, the Christian candidate reportedly dropped to his knees and praised Jesus Christ.
Alvarado Munoz, who represented the National Restoration Party (NRP), conceded defeat after the Supreme Elections Tribunal announced that Alvarado Quesada had garnered 60.8 percent of the vote, while the evangelical candidate only had 39.3 percent, with 90.6 percent of the vote counted.
The Christian candidate thanked his supporters as he spoke of what his next plans would be.
"No matter what happens, glory be to God," he said, according to Tico Times. "We are calm, because our work was worthy, clean, and our message did win these elections... We will continue defending the principles and values that made this country great," he added.
He also called for unity and asked Costa Ricans "who are fighting with other family members" over politics to embrace each other.
Alvarado Munoz had been the only legislator from the NRP since 2014, but during the elections in January, the party was able to obtain 14 seats in the national legislature.
The NRP presidential candidate ran on a pro-life, pro-family platform and had opposed same-sex marriage.
He became even more popular with Evangelical Christians and Catholics after he denounced a ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), which called for equal civil marriage rights for same-sex couples. While other candidates had vowed to honor the court's ruling, Alvarado Munoz said he would not enforce it.
During his campaign, he had also vowed to abolish sex education in schools and replace the National Women's Institute with a family-centered organization, Christianity Today reports.
The former evangelical singer had been endorsed by the National Liberation Party (NLP), which started to back the NRP after the NLP candidate lost in the first electoral round.
Alvarado Munoz led with almost 14 percentage points in an opinion poll in February, but in the weeks leading up to the elections, the polls showed that he was tied with his opponent.
In his concession speech, the evangelical candidate congratulated his opponent saying: "My respect, my affection to don Carlos (Alvarado) and his family... they, too, had to work hard and focus during this campaign."
Alvarado Quesada is scheduled to be inaugurated into a four year term on May 8, according to CBN News.
