President Javier Milei’s party came third in the first major electoral test of the year on Sunday, as Santa Fe Province Governor Maximiliano Pullaro’s coalition emerged victorious.
With 98.7 percent of the votes counted, Governor Pullaro — who led the Unidos para Cambiar Santa Fe coalition made up of Unión Cívica Radical, PRO and Socialist candidates among others — claimed victory with 34.6 percent of the vote. His triumph came despite strong competition from both major political factions.
Juan Monteverde, the opposition candidate for the Partido Justicialista (Peronist), trailed with 15.2 percent while Nicolás Mayoraz, a national deputy and the local candidate for Milei’s party, La Libertad Avanza, secured 14.11 percent of the vote.
The result marks a disappointing start to the electoral calendar for La Libertad Avanza, which is facing its first real test at the polls since he took office. It also sets the tone for a high-stakes political year, with national legislative elections scheduled for October.
Santa Fe, one of Argentina’s most influential provinces, elected 69 delegates to reform its Constitution, along with local authorities for more than 300 towns and 65 municipalities. Nineteen mayors were also elected.
The vote comes just 16 months after Milei secured 55.7 percent in the November 2023 presidential run-off — a figure in stark contrast to the 14 percent his candidate achieved on Sunday, according to provisional results.
The province is the third-largest electoral district in the country, accounting for eight percent of the national electorate. Almost 2.9 million people voted Sunday.
The election results came just two days after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a US$20-billion loan to support the government’s financial programme and bolster the country’s dwindling reserves.
The move comes with the world gripped by a trade war initiated by United States President Donald Trump and a currency crisis forcing the Central Bank to sell more than US$1.8 billion in just two weeks to protect the peso.
The vote also took place after Milei announced that exchange controls would be lifted starting Monday, with the peso set to fluctuate between 1,000 and 1,400 pesos to the US dollar.
Local public opinion expert Roque Cantoia remarked that these elections were not a "plebiscite for the national government" but instead marked the first phase of the journey towards the national midterm elections on October 26.
"The national significance lies in the fact that this is the first electoral event since Milei became president, and it could give us an idea of the strength of his brand in transferring political support," Cantoia said, adding that it was an election "without Milei on the ballot."
While the result was not entirely unexpected, the margins between the candidates were tight. Mayoraz secured 14.11 percent of the vote, narrowly trailing Monteverde’s Más para Santa Fe list – weaker as a consequence of Peronist divisions and a splinter movement – on 15.2 percent.
Pullaro’s coalition, however, dominated the race. La Libertad Avanza sources said last week that the government had anticipated a tough result, even before the removal of foreign exchange controls and currency turbulence.
The outcome suggests that La Libertad Avanza may face an uphill battle in winning over voters amid economic turmoil.
In a speech after the results were announced, Governor Pullaro highlighted his coalition had won in all 19 of the province's departments, in some places by more than 20 points.
Unidos' triumph was "from end to end, from north to south, from east to west," he claimed, although Peronism finished first in four of the 19 departments and the libertarians in two (including Rosario, by far the province´s largest city) in the voting at departmental level for 19 of the 69 delegates.
Pullaro expressed confidence in a clear majority in the Constituent Assembly (although provisional estimates gave him 33 of the 69) and said representatives would be focused on "the province's next 40 years."
He proposed that he would seek implementation of the "Ficha Limpia" anti-graft bill to block politicians with convictions for corruption running for office, eliminate parliamentary privileges and address rules on re-election and hereditary positions.
In a nod to Milei's banner issues, he highlighted the intention to enshrine fiscal balance and public security as fundamental values in the new provincial constitution.
Gently criticising the national administration, the governor called for unity and dialogue, implicitly criticising Milei's violent approach to discourse.
"Together we can move forward. We have an opportunity to show the rest of the republic that we in Santa Fe can listen to each other, that we can sit at a table, debate and have the best [provincial] constitution in the Argentine Republic.
"We can achieve peace, order and progress in our beloved province. There is no point in us attacking and disqualifying each other," he said pointedly.
The electoral calendar continues on May 11, with elections scheduled in the provinces of Salta, San Luis, Chaco and Jujuy. Buenos Aires City will hold its own vote on May 18.
– TIMES/AFP/NA
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