Candidates named: October legislative race takes shape, polarised contest looms

Argentina’s political forces confirmed their electoral alliances and candidate lists on Sunday night, setting the stage for the upcoming midterm elections. The outcome will be decisive for President Javier Milei, who is seeking a stronger hand in Congress to push forward his reform agenda.

Sunday’s deadline will have a major impact on Milei’s Cabinet after National Security Minister Patricia Bullrich and Defence Minister Luis Petri both confirmed they would run as candidates. 

“Where the toughest battles are, that's where I'll be putting my body on the line. Where the country we dream of and must build is defended. Where the future is built,” Bullrich wrote in a post on social media.”After giving everything for the security of good Argentines, for restoring order and enforcing the law, the next battle is in the Senate.”

Bullrich has been confirmed as the top Senate candidate for Buenos Aires City for Milei’s La Libertad Avanza. Petri, meanwhile, will head the party’s list in Mendoza, backed by both Milei’s party and local Governor Alfredo Cornejo. He has already formalised his affiliation with La Libertad Avanza.

Both officials previously ran together on the Juntos por el Cambio presidential ticket in 2023 before later backing Milei in the second round, a move that secured them Cabinet posts. Their imminent return to Congress marks the end of two years in government and leaves Milei with the task of filling two prominent ministerial posts. 

A number of sitting lawmakers are seeking renewed mandates in October’s vote. Around 20 deputies aim for re-election, while at least 10 others are switching chambers – current deputies running for the Senate and some senators trying their luck in the lower house.

In total, 127 seats in the Chamber of Deputies are up for grabs in October, with Peronism defending nearly half of its caucus and La Libertad Avanza, together with PRO, putting a third of their current seats on the line.

Confirmed candidacies include José Luis Espert for LLA in Buenos Aires Province, Sergio Palazzo for Fuerza Patria, and Florencio Randazzo for Provincias Unidas. On the PRO side, Diego Santilli looks odds-on for re-election bids, along with Ricardo López Murphy (Republicanos Unidos).

The closure of candidate lists also clarified which long-serving figures are departing Congress altogether, either due to internal deals, failed bids for re-election or moves to provincial legislatures.

On the PRO side, María Eugenia Vidal was left without a place after breaking with the party’s strategy of aligning with La Libertad Avanza. Other high-profile exits include Fernando Iglesias, Gerardo Milman and Luciano Laspina. For Peronism, veteran deputies such as Leopoldo Moreau, Carlos Heller, Daniel Gollan, Daniel Arroyo and Mónica Litza, among others, step aside.

The UCR faces some of the deepest losses, with Rodrigo de Loredo, Julio Cobos, Martín Tetaz, Soledad Carrizo, Fabio Quetglas and Facundo Manes among those leaving the lower house. Evolución’s Carla Carrizo and Danya Tavela also fall short, though Martín Lousteau will run. Other influential exits include Emilio Monzó, Margarita Stolbizer and several leaders of the Coalición Cívica.

 

La Libertad Avanza

LLA will run independently in some provinces and in alliance with PRO in others, following a deal between Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei and ex-president Mauricio Macri.

In Buenos Aires Province, its joint slate for the Chamber of Deputies will be led by lawmaker José Luis Espert, celebrity host Karen Reichardt and PRO deputy Diego Santilli. 

In Buenos Aires City, National Security Minister Patricia Bullrich tops the list for the Senate – a move that will force a reshuffle of the Cabinet. She is joined by economist Agustín Monteverde, legislator Pilar Ramírez and Education Secretary Carlos Torrendell. 

The deputies’ list will be headed by lawyer Alejandro Fargosi, followed by Patricia Holzman and current deputies Nicolás Emma and Sabrina Ajmechet, a close ally of Bullrich.

In Santa Fe, LLA will field Agustín Pellegrini, Yamile Tomassoni and Juan Pablo Montenegro. In Córdoba, businessman Gonzalo Roca leads the ticket, followed by Laura Soldano, Marcos Patiño and PRO deputy Laura Machado.

 

Peronism

Fuerza Patria has put forward Jorge Taiana as its top candidate for deputies in Buenos Aires Province and Itaí Hagman in the capital. 

The bloc uniting Peronist groupings has also brought in Patria Grande, the movement led by social leader Juan Grabois, who will run third on Taiana’s list as a consensus candidate, behind Jimena López of Sergio Massa’s Frente Renovador.

That list also includes national deputy Vanesa Siley; deputy and banking union leader Sergio Palazzo; Buenos Aires Province Senator Teresa García; former human rights secretary Horacio Pietragalla; national deputy Agustina Propato; and lawyer Hugo Moyano Jr.

Hagman’s ticket features former Labour minister Kelly Olmos, Partido Justicialista (PJ) leader Santiago Ruperto and former City legislator Lucía Cámpora. 

For the Senate, Buenos Aires City PJ president Mariano Recalde will seek re-election, with Ana Arias as his second.

 

Interior

In Santa Fe, Peronist leaders struck a unity deal, placing Caren Tepp of Juan Monteverde’s Ciudad Futura at the top of the Fuerza Patria list, followed by former Cabinet chief Agustín Rossi. Rossi edged out Eduardo Toniolli of the Movimiento Evita, who was excluded from the final slate.

PRO, meanwhile, has diluted itself into LLA’s structure in most provinces but will run separate lists in Córdoba, Río Negro and Santa Cruz. In Córdoba, national deputy Oscar Agost Carreño secured judicial approval to head the ticket. In Santa Cruz, the candidate for deputies will be local PRO leader Leonardo Roquel, while in Río Negro provincial legislator Juan Martín will lead the Senate slate, with Martina Lacour heading the deputies’ list.

 

The ‘middle ground’

Provincias Unidas, presenting itself as a centrist alternative, will field former Córdoba governor Juan Schiaretti as lead candidate for deputies in that province, backed by Carolina Basualdo, Miguel Siciliano, Laura Jure, Ignacio García Aresca, Verónica Navarro, Juan Manuel Llamosas, María Eugenia Romero and Emiliano Paredes. In Buenos Aires Province, its deputies’ list will feature Florencio Randazzo, Margarita Stolbizer and Emilio Monzó.

The alliance includes provincial governors Maximiliano Pullaro (Santa Fe), Carlos Sadir (Jujuy), Ignacio Torres (Chubut), Martín Llaryora (Córdoba) and Claudio Vidal (Santa Cruz).

Ciudadanos Unidos, meanwhile, fractured before the deadline. Graciela Ocaña will run for Senate in Buenos Aires City with  support from the Unión Cívica Radical (UCR), after breaking with Elisa Carrió’s Coalición Cívica. National deputy Facundo Manes, who had been slated as candidate for Senate, left the group at the last minute to present his own ticket.

Ciudadanos Unidos, composed of the UCR, Generación para un Encuentro Nacional (GEN) and the Partido Socialista, opted for a national alliance with the governors of Provincias Unidas. Its Buenos Aires City deputies’ list will be led by UCR leader Martín Lousteau, followed by Piera Fernández, political analyst Gustavo Marangoni and Socialist leader Yesica Barreto. Ocaña will run for Senate with Martín Ocampo as her partner.

The Coalición Cívica will go it alone in Buenos Aires City, risking four of its six seats. Elisa Carrió’s party has nominated Hernán Reyes for the lower house Chamber of Deputies and Marcela Campagnoli for the Senate.

Other Peronist splinter parties will also contest seats. Esteban Echeverría Mayor Fernando Gray will run for Unión Federal, filing his candidacy alongside Escobar council leader María Laura Guazzaroni. National deputy Natalia de la Sota launched Defendamos Córdoba, a new force opposing “the dehumanising policies of the national government.”

Former diplomat Ricardo Alfonsín heads another list backed by Proyecto Sur, FORJA and Socialist leaders. He has pledged to “set limits” on Milei in Congress. His slate includes former deputy Lilia Marina Cassese, Gustavo López (FORJA), Celina Sburlatti, Proyecto Sur leader Hugo Maltempo, Julia Larcamón (FORJA) and Socialist Martín Canay.

In Santiago del Estero Province, Governor Gerardo Zamora will lead the Frente Cívico por Santiago Senate ticket. Former national deputy Claudio Lozano will top the Unidad Popular list in Buenos Aires City, with Eva Koutsovitis, head of the party in CABA, in second place.

 

The left

The Frente de Izquierda y de los Trabajadores – Unidad (FIT-U)will run candidates in 23 provinces. In Buenos Aires City, its list will be led by experienced lawmaker Myriam Bregman with deputy Mercedes de Mendieta (Izquierda Socialista). In Buenos Aires Province, Nicolás del Caño is joined by deputy Juan Carlos Giordano and railway delegate and former deputy Mónica Schlotthauer.

Nuevo MAS will also compete in 13 provinces, with Manuela Castañeira heading its Buenos Aires Province ticket for deputies.

 

– TIMES/NA