San Luis: Poggi’s ruling coalition defeats Rodríguez Saá’s Peronists

The ruling Ahora San Luis alliance, aligned with Governor Claudio Poggi, emerged triumphant in provincial voting on Sunday, scoring a clear victory over a Peronist coalition led by former four-term governor Alberto Rodríguez Saá. 

With 79.58 percent of polling stations reporting, the ruling coalition had 46.81 percent of the vote, compared to 26.5 percent for the Frente Justicialista. The Tercera Posición party, appropriately enough, trailed in third with 7.9 percent, ahead of libertarians Viva la Libertad, Carajo!, which took fourth place with 7.1 percent.

Other parties failed to cross the threshold for representation.

The elections were to renew half the seats in the provincial Chamber of Deputies (22), with four Senate seats also up for grabs. Mayors and councillors were also elected in dozens of towns and cities, including San Luis, Villa Mercedes, La Punta, Juana Koslay and Potrero de los Funes, as well as smaller municipalities.

Poggi, who leads the Ahora San Luis front – which includes parties like PRO, the Unión Cívica Radical and Avanzar San Luis – selected the Mayor of Juana Koslay Jorge ‘Toti’ Videla, to head its list of candidates for deputies in the Pueyrredón department, the province’s most important district which is home to the capital. 

Former governor Alberto Rodríguez Saá backed national deputy Silvia Sosa Araujo as the leading candidate for his Frente Justicialista.

President Javier Milei’s La Libertad Avanza (LLA) joined a libertarian coalition fielding candidates for both legislative and local offices, though the group lacked the full support of Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei – the ruling party’s main strategist for the midterms. 

National deputy Carlos D’Alessandro led the ticket for the Tercera Posición party, which identifies itself as libertarian. 

The left-wing Frente de Izquierda Unidad only put up candidates in the main Pueyrredón district.

Sunday’s vote marked the first electoral test for Poggi, who took office in December, 2023, after defeating Peronism. He is now aiming to consolidate power, a considerable challenge given the historic dominance of the Rodríguez Saá brothers since 1983.

– TIMES/PERFIL/NA