Most of the political parties that will compete in the upcoming Buenos Aires City midterm elections have already selected their lead candidates.
With the to-and-fro of names and party banners, speculation is already growing as to which political force will be the best positioned for May 18 elections, which will define the new make-up of the City Legislature.
Manuel Adorni: Lead libertarian
The candidacy of Manuel Adorni, President Javier Milei’s top presidential spokesperson, has generated a lot of reaction. Criticism has come from rivals Paula Olivetto (Coalición Cívica) and Yamil Santoro (Unión Porteña Libertaria), who remarked that it is not possible for the spokesperson to campaign while holding a key public post. Rumours persist as to Adorni will actually take up a seat post-election, putting greater focus on those filling out La Libertad Avanza’s ticket in the City. In second place on the LLA list is the director of the Banco Nación, Solana Pelayo, with third place going to Nicolás Pakgojz, the current head of the Agencia de Administración de Bienes del Estado (AABE).
‘Volvamos Buenos Aires’ for Rodríguez Larreta
Former Buenos Aires City mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta will head the list of the Movimiento al Desarrollo (MAD), a party he himself founded last August. The PRO party co-founder, a former ally of ex-president Mauricio Macri,will be accompanied by National Senator Guadalupe Tagliaferri and lawmaker Emmanuel Ferrario in third place. For fifth place, a returning name: Jorge Telerman, another former mayor, who until last August was Complejo Teatral Buenos Aires. Under the slogan "Volvamos Buenos Aires" ("Let's return Buenos Aires"), Larreta and his fellow candidates are backed by the Confianza Pública and Partido Federal political spaces.
Leandro Santoro says ‘Es ahora Buenos Aires’
With a mandate to serve as a national deputy representing Buenos Aires City for Unión por la Patria caucus until December 2025, Leandro Santoro will run again in the capital, heading Peronism’s main electoral slate. He held a seat in the Buenos Aires Legislature between 2017 and 2021 and was subsequently the Peronist mayoral candidate in 2023, finishing second behind current Mayor Jorge Macri.
The candidates that will accompany him have not yet been fully defined. Among the names circulating most prominently are Juan Manuel Olmos, current head of the Auditoría General de la Nación, popular streamer and TV panelist Alejandro ‘Pitu’ Salvatierra, and the current head of the Peronist caucus in the City Juan Pablo Moradelli. Magdalena Tiesso is also rumoured.
PRO goes with Lospennato
PRO national deputy Silvia Lospennato will head the list for the space led by ex-president Mauricio Macri. A 47-year-old political scientist with a wealth of legislative experience, she previously served as an undersecretary in Buenos Aires City, head of the ACUMAR (Matanza-Riachuelo Basin Authority) and technical advisor in the lower house Chamber of Deputies from 2009-2011.
In second and third place on PRO’s list will be Hernán Lombardi, currently serving as economic development minister in Jorge Macri’s City administration, and Laura Alonso, who headed the Anti-Corruption Office between 2015 and 2019 during Mauricio Macri’s 2015-2019 Presidency. In fifth or sixth place will be Waldo Wolff, who until last month was City security minister, before being removed from his post.
PRO has signed agreements with a number of parties and movements, including the Partido Demócrata, Unir, Partido de las Ciudades en Acción and Encuentro Republicano Federal.
Oliveto for Coalición Cívica
Coalición Cívica (CC-ARI) national deputy Paula Oliveto will head the centrist party’s list for the “Es con vos” electoral front. The 52-year-old lawyer presides over the CC-ARI in the City and is a member of the national executive board of the party founded by Elisa Carrió. In addition, she served as a City legislator between 2013 and 2017, and held the position of City auditor general of the City during Mauricio Macri’s 2015-2019 Presidency.
Fernando Sánchez, a former government secretary, will accompany Oliveto as second on the list. The list is completed by names such as María Pace Wells, Federico Esswein, Carolina Maccione, Juan Francisco Rosati, Nadia Monserrat, Ignacio Martioda, Mirta Cellis, Hugo Bentivenga, Daniela Maspledes and Hernán Poggi.
Evolución with Lucille Levy
Lucille Levy, the former head of the Federación Universitaria de Buenos Aires (FUBA), will head the Evolución list in the City. A 29-year-old, she was a senior counselor at the University of Buenos Aires and was one of the promoters of protests and mobilisations against the national government’s cuts to the budgets of state universities.
Levy is an activist at the student centre of UBA’s Faculty of Economic Sciences, where she also teaches. She will be backed on the list by UCR Capital militant Facundo Cedeira and City lawmaker and university teacher Jesica Barreto.
Marra breaks with ‘Libertad y orden’
Broker Ramiro Marra – currently expelled from the ruling party – wants to renew his seat outside of the La Libertad Avanza banner. With an alliance named “Libertad y Orden” and the party seal of the Unión del Centro Democrático (UCeDe), Marra is banking on his personal popularity. He was candidate for City mayor in 2023 and finished third. The names that will accompany him in his list have not yet been confirmed.
Left-wing lead: Vanina Biasi
National deputy Vanina Biasi’s term as a lawmaker expires in December of this year. A member of the left-wing Partido Obrero, she is a non-teaching worker at the UBA. She will be accompanied by student leader Luca Bonfante, from the Partido Socialista de los Trabajadores. The list of the first 10 candidates for the Frente de Izquierda y de los Trabajadores – Unidad (FIT-U) is completed by Celeste Fierro, Pablo Almeida, Mercedes Trimarchi, Jeremías Romero, Alicia Navarro Palacios, Alejandro Lipcovich, Tatiana Fernández Martí and Tomás Máscolo.
Principios y valores: Alejandro Kim
Argentine-born son of Korean parents Alejandro Kim is a lawyer and was vice-president of the Cámara de Empresarios Coreanos en Argentina business chamber. The remaining places of the list are filled out by Nydia Lirola, Raúl Vázquez, Noemí Nobrega, Roberto Couto, María Florencia Moreno (daughter of Guillermo Moreno), Alberto Sansobrino, María Florencia Ruiz, Cristian Albisua and Guillermina Macchi.
Confluencia por la Unidad y la Soberanía: María Eva Koutsovitis
María Eva Koutsovitis is a civil engineer specialised in hydraulics. She is accompanied by community leader and teacher Airel Elger, social leader of the Barrio Los Piletones, Mónica Ruejas, teacher Antonella Bianco, lawyer Jonatan Baldiviezo, former rector of the Colegio Nacional Buenos Aires, Virginia González Gass, and Ignacio Cámpora, a worker and member of the board of directors of ATE state workers union in the City.
Nuevo MAS: Federico Winokur
An elementary school teacher, Federico Winokur will be the first candidate for the Nuevo MAS list that is led at a national level by Manuela Castañeira. It is the youngest list, with candidates of an average age of 30 years old. The remaining names on the slate are Violeta Azriel Alonso, Alejandro Leiva, María Belén D'Ambrosio Romero, Matías Emilio Brito, Mariana Rueda Kramer, Roberto Sáenz, Marina Hidalgo Robles, Julián Luciano and Natacha Haeberer.
Movimiento Integración y Desarrollo kicks off
Movimiento Integración y Desarrollo leader Oscar Zago, nominated former football coach Ricardo ‘Caruso’ Lombardi as the first candidate for lawmaker on his list after breaking the alliance he had sealed just last week with Mauricio Macri’s PRO. “For us it is an honor to be here in the MID house presenting our candidate, who is going to confront different candidates in Buenos Aires City,” said Zago, appearing in a video alongside his star name. For his part, Lombardi expressed: “For me this is something new, but many things have happened in my life. I noticed that I had to make a change, something positive for the people. The people I talk to on the street gave me that feeling that I hadn't felt for a long time and I decided to do it. Oscar talked to me, he told me to go for it.”
Marcelo Peretta for Movimiento Plural
Union leader Marcelo Peretta will head his party’s list, Movimiento Plural. He will be accompanied by political advisor Federico González, in second place, and Nahuel Altieri, the lawyer who presides the Buenos Aires Bar Association in third. The list is completed by: Valentina Peretta Alejandre, the law student at the University of Buenos Aires who was elected the institution’s best speaker of 2025, and Elsa Nieto, a scientific journalist, and pastor Malvina Starker.
Copycat Santoro?
Yamil Santoro decided that the first place on the ballot will be occupied by his brother, Leandro Santoro, who shares a name with the Peronist candidate for Unión por la Patria, in the City. “My brother Leandro is a better candidate: he is an engineer with international experience, who shares our ideals of defence of the porteños,” expressed Yamil, when announcing the modification, and confirmed that he will move to the third place in the list and continue with his role as campaign manager. The decision comes just weeks after Yamil Santoro launched his party’s Unión Porteña Libertaria logo, which aped the design of two other parties in a bid to capitalise on confusion.
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