By Joaquín Rodríguez Freire. Full version published in Spanish on Ámbito.com

Santa Fe Governor Maximiliano Pullaro triumphed in local elections for delegates to reform the provincial constitution, as well as mayors, councilors, and other local authorities.

Pullaro beat the Peronist Justicialist party by almost 20 percentage points. National ruling party La Libertad Avanza (LLA) came third, and provincial deputy Amalia Granata came fourth. 

Eleven districts also held primary elections.

With 98% of the vote counted:

• Pullaro received 34.6%
• Juan Monteverde, Justicialist party: 15.1%
• Nicolás Mayoraz, LLA: 14.1%
• Amalia Granata: 12.3%
• Marcelo Lewandowski, also of the Justicialist Party: 8.4%
• Alejandra “Locomotive” Oliveras: 5.6%

Voter turnout was estimated at around 60%.

The citizens of Santa Fe were voting for 69 delegates to reform the provincial constitution, known as “conventional reformers:” 50 representing districts and 19 representing departments. It will be the first constitutional reform in 63 years.

Pullaro’s decision to run personally for a role in the constitutional reform turned the election into a referendum on his 16 months in power.

The governor, of the UCR, led the United to Change Santa Fe (Unidos para Cambiar Santa Fe) front, which groups the UCR, PRO and socialists, among others. He reaped the benefits of reaching the ballot box with a united front to carry a strong victory in Argentina’s first electoral battle of 2025.

Nationally, Pullaro has had strong support from PRO leaders such as Mauricio Macri and UCR leaders such as Martín Lousteau.

However, the governor received less than 40% of the votes, well below the 58% he secured in the 2023 elections. His team say this was because of strong polarization with the Peronist candidate that year. But LLA’s participation seems to have taken some of Unidos’s votes. 

It is a relief to the UCR that the ruling party received just 15%, since they compete for some of the same voters. This suggests that while President Javier Milei still commands reasonable support nationwide, the fact his name was not on the local ballot hampered his candidate. The candidacy of Amalia Granata, another libertarian, also detracted from the officialist vote.

What was on the ballot in the Santa Fe elections

Constitutional reform representatives: 50 (district level), 19 (departmental level)

Mayors: 11

Councilors: in 53 towns and cities

Community-level authorities in 75 districts