National deputy José Luis Espert will lead the La Libertad Avanza (LLA) ticket in Buenos Aires province, seeking to renew his lower house sea at the end of the year. The announcement comes just days before the deadline: parties and alliances have until Sunday August 17 at midnight to file their candidates.

“José Luis, ‘The Teacher,’ will lead and be the visible face of the team that will go to Congress,” Sebastián Pareja, head of LLA in Buenos Aires province, said Thursday morning in an interview with Radio Mitre.

Espert’s candidacy has been virtually confirmed for months, but now it was made official. In May, President Javier Milei had said Espert would be LLA’s top candidate for the Lower House in 2025, calling him a “crucial figure.” Milei and Espert are longtime friends. Their relationship has had its ups and downs in recent years, with Espert briefly leaving LLA in 2023 and reuniting with Milei in 2024.

Argentina’s political fronts are in full blown negotiation mode for the upcoming October 26 midterm election. The process has reignited Peronism’s infighting, while ruling party LLA and its ally PRO are in a tug of war over ballot slots that the Libertarians seem to be winning.

Argentina will be voting to renew half of the Lower House and half of the Senate. Each province, as well as Buenos Aires City, will vote for their representatives in Congress. 

LLA currently has small representation in Congress — only 39 deputies and 6 senators. This is likely to change after the October midterms election as most polls show them raising their legislative presence. Recent polls by Proyección and Rubikon Intel consultant agencies, show a narrow margin between Peronism and LLA in Buenos Aires province. Voting estimates for Peronism range from 27% to 38%, while LLA support hovers around 37%.

A good outing for the government could mean less negotiations over bills and more widespread support for  Milei’s decrees and vetoes.

Peronism

Despite reaching a unity agreement and creating a new electoral front called Fuerza Patria, the waters are far from calm within Peronism. 

The three Peronist factions jostling for power are led by Buenos Aires province Governor Axel Kicillof, former Economy minister and Frente Renovador head Sergio Massa, and La Cámpora leader Máximo Kirchner. 

While Kicillof and Kirchner have an ongoing feud that began around two years ago, Massa has been acting as a sort of peacemaker between the two. Although the former minister was rumored to potentially run as head of the national deputy ticket for Buenos Aires province, a source close to him confirmed to the Herald that  he will not run.

“He wants to help reach unity. He will pick people from his party to join the tickets, but he won’t be a candidate,” the source said. They went on to say that although Masa is “happy” with the fact that “every sector except Grabois” asked him to run, he feels he can be more useful from the outside. 

Juan Grabois, the leader of left-leaning Peronist party Patria Grande, lost to Massa in the  2023 Peronism presidential primaries. Patria Grande is not a part of the Fuerza Patria alliance, but its members could still be candidates.

While the dialogue between Kicillof and Massa is good, things are ice-cold between the governor and Kirchner. “There is no dialogue with Máximo,” a source close to Kicillof told the Herald, adding that “there haven’t been developments” as far as candidates go. Although the three factions had agreed last month to decide the tickets together, “for now, there are no active discussions.” 

The source also said that Kicillof is demanding that the lawmakers aligned with him who end their term in December be on the ticket. Those deputies are Daniel Gollan, Julio Pereyra, Hugo Yasky, and Brenda Vargas Matyi.

LLA and PRO

Presidency Secretary Karina Milei has a nickname her brother picked. The president calls her El Jefe (the male equivalent of The Boss in Spanish). She is the head of LLA at a national level and in charge of deciding who will be the candidate for each district.

LLA formally formed a coalition with PRO to compete together in 10 provinces. The agreement, however, does not mean the two have equal say as the ruling party is clearly in charge. For one, the alliance will compete under the purple banner of LLA.

Dialogue between the two is fine, a source from LLA told the Herald.

Although the source said that there will be no certain names “until Sunday,” Herald sister publication Ámbito reported that Security Minister Patricia Bullrich will run for senator for Buenos Aires City. Formerly PRO head, Bullrich quickly allied with Milei in 2023 after he became president. She formally joined LLA in May.

Deregulation Minister Federico Sturzenegger could also have a spot on a ticket. His functions are virtually over after Milei’s special legislative powers ended on July 8. Sturzenegger was in charge of designing numerous presidential decrees eliminating or modifying state entities and institutions, allowed by the delegated powers Congress approved in mid-2024.