Elected councilor of the City of San José for the first time in 1982, he participated in the Harvard Institute for International Development's one-month program for mayors of Latin America and the Caribbean in 1992.

On 31 January 2013, the PLN nominated him as its presidential candidate to succeed his incumbent party colleague, President Laura Chinchilla, constitutionally barred from re-election.

[6] On 6 March 2014 Araya announced that he would abandon his presidential campaign after polls showed him far behind Luis Guillermo Solís.

[7] Five days after being chosen as the PLN presidential candidate, Araya flew in a private jet owned by MECO Construction, a firm that was awarded contracts worth US65 million by the former presidential administrations of Laura Chinchilla and Óscar Arias, both PLN members.

[9] Such trips are in violation of Article 128 of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Costa Rica, which prohibits donations from private companies.