On 11 June Argentina’s right-of-centre opposition coalition Juntos por el Cambio (JxC) outperformed the Partido Justicialista (PJ, Peronists), the mainstay in the ruling left-of-centre Frente de Todos (FdT) coalition led by President Alberto Fernández, in three of the four provincial-level elections held.
Analysis:
The JxC has had a very slow start to the electoral swing that culminates in presidential and legislative elections on 22 October. It will take some heart from these results, which saw it end Peronist dominance in the central province of San Luis and perform strongly in the western province of Mendoza and the north-eastern province of Corrientes. The PJ won a thumping victory, however, in the gubernatorial elections in the north-western province of Tucumán.
- The JxC triumphed in the gubernatorial election in San Luis, held by the PJ since 1983, albeit only because of an acrimonious split between the Rodríguez Saá family, the local potentates, which makes it difficult to read too much into the results in terms of potential influence at a national level. Claudio Poggi, a former PJ governor (2011-2015) won election standing on a ticket for the Unión Cívica Radical (UCR) and Propuesta Republicana (PRO), the main two parties within the JxC, supported by Senator Adolfo Rodríguez Saá against the provincial justice minister, Jorge Fernández, who was backed by his brother, Alberto Rodríguez Saá, the incumbent governor.
- The JxC also won the primary elections in Mendoza, putting it in pole position to retain the governorship. Alfredo Cornejo, a UCR legislator and former governor of Mendoza (2015-2019), won 43% of the vote, well ahead of his rivals. Finally, the JxC won the legislative elections in Corrientes decisively, winning a majority in both the provincial lower chamber of congress and the senate.
- In Tucumán, the incumbent deputy governor, Osvaldo Jaldo, won the gubernatorial elections, with some 56% of the vote for the FdT, with the JxC’s Roberto Sánchez on 34%.
Looking Ahead: Presidential aspirants swept around the country trying to capitalise on the success of provincial candidates to boost their own cause just two weeks before the deadline for registration for presidential candidates.
