The scandal surrounding Martín Insaurralde and his holiday with girlfriend Sofía Clerici is now the cornerstone for Juntos por el Cambio. Not only en route to the run-off for Patricia Bullrich, but in particular to defeat Governor Axel Kicillof in Buenos Aires Province.
In this context, gubernatorial candidate Néstor Grindetti is working actively with two goals: trying to win in 90 municipalities – 30 percent from Peronism – and to get some 600,000 votes in the region that his team has identified as having ultimately migrated to Javier Milei.
With an iron-clad agreement with his coalition rival for the nomination Diego Santilli – who has already joined him twice on tours and about twice or three times has campaigned on his own – Grindetti will continue to tour Buenos Aires Province together with Cristina Ritondo (first candidate for national deputy) and Unión Cívica Radical politicians Maximiliano Abad (senatorial candidate) and Karina Banfi (second candidate for national deputy).
Among the documents treasured by Juntos por el Cambio’s Buenos Aires Province head of campaign, Adrián Urreli, there is one being watched closely. It is a spreadsheet containing a list of all 135 municipalities in Buenos Aires Province . The green ones are those won in the PASO primaries and the yellow ones (which total 28) are where Juntos por el Cambio lost by less than three points, meaning races in which they still have a chance to turn it around. Such was the discussion between Urrelli and the coordinator of the national Bullrich campaign, former deputy interior minister Sebastián García de Luca.
“The votes in Greater Buenos Aires are closer to [Javier] Milei, those lost by Kirchnerism are grabbed by La Libertad Avanza. But outside Greater Buenos Aires, we can flip some 600,000 votes plus any new ones. That’s how we can beat Kicillof,” explained one of Grindetti’s collaborators. On La Libertad Avanza’s chances he says bullishly: “[Carolina] Píparo is ten points away, she’s far, even if she does pick up the next few weeks."
On Thursday, Grindetti will be a keynote speaker detailing educational proposals. He will be with Esteban Bullrich, Soledad Acuña and Gabriel Sánchez Zinny talking about the details of the Education Consultive Councils in Mar del Plata.
Out of the three specialists, Sánchez Zinny has prepared the plan for the province if they win. He has extensive experience in the field: he was a minister with María Eugenia Vidal and before that he had worked at the national Education Ministry when Esteban Bullrich took over in December 2015 during the Cambiemos era.
On Thursday there will also be a rally with locals and Bullrich. Then Grindetti will go to Miramar. Next week he will add Bahía Blanca and Villariño to his list of campaign stops.
In this context, Grindetti on Wednesday presented the key axes of his political reform, if he wins. Among other matters, he suggests a sharp reduction in the number of ministers and the “political expenditure” in consultants and positions. He did this alongside his candidate for deputy governor, Radical leader Miguel Fernández, mayor of Trenque Lauquen, and in Vicente López, the territory of PRO mayor, Soledad Martínez.
There are also two key issues in the candidate’s platform: one is lowering taxes and the other is the “municipalisation” of many areas and decentralising formalities and functions away from La Plata.
Before the close of the campaign, there will be a big rally. Soon they will decide whether to hold it in La Matanza or Lomas de Zamora. Like in the PASO primaries, the campaign will close in Lanús with local mayor Diego Kravetz (running for re-election), and the main Juntos por el Cambio candidates.
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