Martina Jaureguy Peronism looks to have reached a unity candidates list for the Buenos Aires province legislative elections, despite hours of high-voltage negotiations in which sparks nearly ignited a fire within the party. In the alliance formed by national ruling party La Libertad Avanza (LLA) and PRO, the former took a leading role and defined most of the tickets.
However, things could still change; although the deadline to present the final version of the tickets was Saturday at midnight, it was extended until Monday at 2 p.m. after two power cuts forced a stop to the candidate registration process.
It is unusual for the provincial legislative elections to garner so much attention and tension. While Buenos Aires province usually has its local elections on the same day as the national one, this year Governor Axel Kicillof decided to split it. The province’s citizens will vote for local deputies and senators on September 7, in an election that is expected to serve as a poll of the October 26 national legislative race, because of the province being such a populous and diverse electorate.
There will be eight candidate lists for each coalition or party participating in the election, representing each of the electoral districts in the province. The first and third electoral districts are key: made up by the municipalities surrounding Buenos Aires city, they are the most populous electoral districts. Each of them have over 5 million of the 14 million electors in the province.
Power cuts
The LLA-PRO coalition, centrist Somos Buenos Aires — which groups dissident Peronists and members of the Unión Cívica Radical (UCR) — and left-wing FIT confirmed their candidates before the deadline. However, Fuerza Patria, the new name for the Peronist unity alliance, was still negotiating well past midnight. A source present at the negotiations told the Herald that the discussions lasted until around 5 a.m.
Coalitions La Libertad Avanza, Fuerza Patria and Potencia, as well as the Libertarian Party, formally requested an extension of the deadline after the power cuts. The Electoral Board approved the request “so that all political alliances can continue with the process of presentation of candidate lists,” and established that they will be able to do so on Monday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The first power cut happened at 10:48 p.m. at the provincial Legislature, where the Electoral Board operates. The board had to move to another building, where a second cut happened at 11:20. Sebastián Pareja, head of the LLA party in the province, and Cristian Ritondo, national deputy and local PRO leader, questioned that the incidents happened “right when the deadline for presenting lists was about to be met” and argued that “Kirchnerism was nowhere to be seen.”
The candidates
The efforts to reach unity candidate lists prevailed within Peronism despite tense infighting that has been plaguing the Partido Justicialista for over a year. A three-way clash between sectors represented by Governor Kicillof, Frente Renovador leader Sergio Massa, and Máximo Kirchner, leader of the Kirchnerist group La Cámpora had caused the rift.
These tensions peaked between Saturday night and the early hours of Sunday, when they clashed in search for higher spots for each of the factions in the lists.
“After a tense negotiation, we have reached a good agreement,” a source close to Massa told the Herald on Sunday, adding that there was “a good balance” between the factions and that Peronism will have “competitive candidates in all sections.”
The source said that Buenos Aires province Infrastructure Minister Gabriel Katopodis will lead the ticket for the first electoral district, while Vice Governor Verónica Magario will lead the ticket for the third, replacing Cristina Kirchner, who had announced her candidacy before the Supreme Court confirmed her six-year house-arrest sentence in the “Vialidad” case and a lifelong ban on public office.
Both Katopodis and Magario are part of Kicillof’s inner circle. This confirms that, in the push-and-pull between the governor and Máximo Kirchner, Kicillof managed to prevail in the key districts.
Diego Nanni, mayor of Exaltación de la Cruz and also close to Kicillof, will lead the ticket for the second electoral district. The tickets for the rest of the districts will all be led by Kirchnerist, many of them members of La Cámpora: Diego Videla, María Fernanda Raverta, Alejandro Di Chiara, María Inés Laurini and Ariel Archanco.
The source close to Massa said that, like in any candidate list deadline, “peace did not prevail, all the opposite.” However, “it wasn’t anything that hasn’t happened before” in Peronism and, despite the tension, “a good resolution was reached.”
“In two or three days, when the waters calm down, they will start to organize the campaign,” the source added, with the goal of winning in the September and October elections.
According to a source from LLA, the alliance between the Libertarians and PRO registered its respective candidate lists on Saturday night. The full list of those who will lead the tickets will be released on Sunday, the source added. The coalition will be under the guise of La Libertad Avanza, a clear sign that Javier Milei’s ruling party will have much of the spotlight.
“More than ever, in Buenos Aires province this is Kirchnerism or freedom,” Pareja wrote on X on Saturday night to confirm the LLA-PRO unity. The post also showed a picture of himself with the president’s sister Karina Milei in the center, as well as Ritondo, PRO national deputy Diego Santilli, and Eduardo “Lule” Menem, a close collaborator of Karina Milei.
Milei added on X that the Buenos Aires province election represents a fight of “status quo versus change” and “poverty versus progress.”
The Herald’s sister publication Ámbito reported that Presidency Secretary and LLA leader at a national level Karina Milei led the negotiations on Saturday and managed to attract a fair share of PRO members, although LLA is notoriously more prevalent in the lists.
Tres de Febrero Mayor Diego Valenzuela confirmed on Sunday that he will lead the ticket for the first electoral district as senate candidate. Valenzuela, a former PRO member close to Security Minister Patricia Bullrich, was one of the first Buenos Aires mayors to join LLA earlier this year.
The ticket for the third electoral district will be led by former chief of police and current Florencio Varela council member Maximiliano Bondarenko, something that may indicate LLA will focus on security issues. Among other candidates, General Pueyrredón Mayor Guillermo Montenegro will lead the ticket for the fifth electoral district.
