Will PRO president Mauricio Macri run for a Buenos Aires City lawmaker role in the upcoming legislative elections? Rumors to that effect gathered steam this week with particularly vocal support from the capital’s Mayor Jorge Macri, the former president’s cousin. It remains unclear if the candidacy would be for national or city legislator.

“That’s a decision he has to make, but I think it would be very good for him to be a candidate,” said the mayor in an interview with Radio Mitre on Sunday. “He has the necessary skills, and it would be a great gesture from him.”

Although he didn’t provide details or confirmation, the mayor had already said during a PRO rally on January 9 that there would be a “Mauricio candidacy.” Signs reading “Mauricio 2025,” printed by the PRO youth branch, were later seen dotted around the streets of Buenos Aires.

Jorge Macri highlighted his cousin’s decision to back President Javier Milei before he was elected in late 2023. “Mauricio has been very generous since the last general elections. [Milei] may have won without our support, maybe not, but we did it without speculating [about the outcome].”

Since Milei clinched the presidency, the relationship between the two has fluctuated between amicable and tense. The move would give Macri more power within the delicate allyship between PRO and the ruling party La Libertad Avanza (LLA).

Buenos Aires City will vote for new legislators on July 6 and then renew its seats in Congress in October’s national midterms.

The city is one of the districts that recently decided to separate their local election date from the national poll, stoking tensions between PRO and the ruling coalition La Libertad Avanza (LLA). PRO has not lost an election in Buenos Aires City since 2005, and there is speculation that moving the election is a way of holding on to the district in the face of possible LLA competition.

While the two parties have talked about a possible electoral alliance for 2025, there is still nothing official, and the Macri-Milei relationship continues to fluctuate.

Although the leaders have said they want to form an alliance ahead of the legislative elections, PRO released a communiqué accusing the government of being “authoritarian” for leaving the 2025 budget off the agenda for the upcoming extraordinary sessions. A source close to the matter told the Herald the communiqué was written with Mauricio Macri’s approval.

In addition, two Buenos Aires province mayors recently changed sides: Diego Valenzuela (Tres de Febrero) and Ramiro Egüen (25 de Mayo) left PRO and joined LLA.

However, Macri congratulated Milei in an X post after the government announced it would lower export duties for agricultural products from Monday until the end of June, saying it would be “a relief” for the agricultural sector.