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ARGENTINA | 13-08-2023 21:52

Jorge Macri sees off Martín Lousteau in battle for Buenos Aires City mayor

Juntos por el Cambio produces dominant performance in nation's capital, taking almost 56% of all votes; PRO's Jorge Macri defeats Radical Senator Martín Lousteau by a small margin to win nomination; Ruling coalition hopeful Leandro Santoro trails in third.

Results from the Buenos Aires City PASO primaries indicate that the opposition PRO party is likely to extend their hold of the nation’s capital for another four years.

With 99 percent of polling stations reporting, PRO party hopeful Jorge Macri had 28.71 percent of all votes counted, securing a narrow victory over his coalition rival, Radical Senator Martín Lousteau, who had 27.21 percent.

Cumulatively, the Juntos por el Cambio candidates had 55.92 percent, pointing to a likely victory in the mayoral race proper in October.

In third place was Leandro Santoro, the ruling Unión por la Patria coalition candidate who had 22.17 percent of votes. He was trailed by libertarian Ramiro Marra on 12.95 percent for the La Libertad Avanza.

The two candidates for the left-wing Frente de Izqiuerda y de los Trabajadores – Unidad coalition had 3.66 percent overall.

Speaking onstage at the Juntos por el Cambio bunker in Costa Salguero, Macri paid tribute to his rival and said he is “very proud to continue” PRO’s leadership of the city.

However, he said that the primaries were just the “first step” in the election and vowed to win over Lousteau’s supporters and win the mayoral race.

“Thank you very much for allowing us to win this election, like 20 years ago when this wonderful history of PRO in the City of Buenos Aires began,” said the ex-mayor of Vicente López, stressing that “we haven’t won anything yet.”

PRO has ruled the capital for the last 16 years. Current Buenos Aires City Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta chose to compete for the Presidency after two terms in office. He was preceded as mayor by Mauricio Macri, who went on to serve as head of state from 2015 to 2019.

Lousteau congratulated his opponent and acknowledged his defeat.

“You know it was a very close election... [his electoral ticket] Evolución has won in 10 of the 15 communes of the city,” said Lousteau.

Highlighting that the opposition coalition had “greatly increased its electoral strength” in the capital, Lousteau called on the opposition to deliver a “more beautiful” and “less unequal” city. 

 

– TIMES/NA

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James Grainger

James Grainger

Editor-in-Chief, Buenos Aires Times.

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