José Miguel Ortiz

José Miguel Ortíz Novoa (born 24 April 1941) is a Chilean politician who served as member of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile.

Early life and education José Miguel Ortiz Novoa was born on November 22, 1941, in Santiago, Chile. He is the son of José León Ortíz Nuñez and Alicia Novoa Vega.

He is married to Nelda Novely Vera Vásquez and is the father of three children, including Álvaro Ortiz Vera, former city councilor and mayor of Concepción since 2012.

Ortiz completed his primary education at Colegio San Ignacio of Concepción and his secondary education at Liceo Enrique Molina Garmendia in the same city. He later entered the Faculty of Education at the University of Concepción, where he obtained a degree as a teacher.

Professional career In his professional career, Ortiz worked as a teacher at the Seminario Menor Metropolitano of Concepción and later served as Provincial Director of Education. In 1980, he was dismissed from this latter position by the military regime of Augusto Pinochet.

Political career Ortiz began his political activity in 1957 when he joined the Christian Democratic Party of Chile in his region.

For the 1964 presidential elections, he led the Independent Youth Command supporting the candidacy of Eduardo Frei Montalva.

In 1966, he served as president of the Christian Democratic Party’s Labor Department in Concepción, and the following year he was appointed communal vice president of the party in the same city.

Between 1969 and 1989, across four consecutive terms, he held the positions of first vice president, secretary, and provincial president of the Christian Democratic Party.

During the military regime, between 1979 and 1984, he was a member of the party’s National Political Commission and served as delegate to the National Board until 1988.

In the early 1980s, he became Provincial Councilor of the Central Unitary Workers (CUT) and served as a national leader of the Employees of the Horse Racing sector.

In 1988, he coordinated the No campaign in Concepción for the national plebiscite held that year.

He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies of Chile in 1989 and served continuously from 1990 onward. Due to the term limits established by Law No. 21,238 of 2020, he did not seek re-election. In August 2021, he registered his candidacy for the Senate of Chile representing the Christian Democratic Party for the 10th senatorial constituency of the Biobío Region for the 2022–2030 term. In the parliamentary elections of November 2021, he obtained 28,131 votes, equivalent to 5.12% of the total valid votes, but was not elected.