Libertarian presidential hopeful Javier Milei was the candidate who won the most votes in the 2023 PASOs, winning primary elections in 16 provinces nationwide.
The impressive performance by the La Libertad Avanza leader compares favourably with the ruling and opposition coalitions, Unión por la Patria and Juntos por el Cambio, who won in five and three districts respectively.
Harnessing Milei’s popular appeal, he or his party finished second in all five of the regions (Buenos Aires Province and the central-northern provinces of Santiago del Estero, Catamarca, Chaco and Formosa) in which the ruling Peronist coalition came out on top, forcing the opposition into third place.
Prior to the election, there were doubts about the extent of Milei’s appeal beyond Buenos Aires City and Buenos Aires Province. Many of those questions have now been answered: the libertarian’s party came first in the provinces of Córdoba, Santa Fe, Mendoza, Misiones, Jujuy; Salta, Tucumán, La Rioja, San Juan, San Luis, La Pampa, Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego.
Juntos por el Cambio will be hoping for a stronger performance in the October 22 general elections having won only three districts: its stronghold, Buenos Aires City, and the provinces of Entre Ríos and Corrientes. In these regions, Peronism came second and Milei third – areas the libertarian may not target in order to increase his party’s share of the vote.
Regarding the opposition’s presidential primary, former security minister Patricia Bullrich topped the internal contest in all 24 voting districts except three. Her rival, Buenos Aires City Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta only triumphed in the provinces of Jujuy (the stronghold of his running-mate Gerardo Morales), San Juan and La Rioja.
– TIMES/PERFIL
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