Milei’s La Libertad Avanza party sizes up provincial agreements for 2027 election

The ruling party is starting to think out – with time to spare – its strategy. La Libertad Avanza hopes to seal electoral deals which will permit President Javier Milei’s desire for re-election to be translated into reality, while at the time advancing with the passage of as many laws as possible in Congress.

The deadline for decisions will be after the World Cup, scheduled to run between June 11 and July 16, say government sources. Nevertheless, the preparatory work, headed by Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei, has produced some preliminary approximations.

A top government source reveals that LLA is determined to compete in the five provinces governed by the opposition Peronist movement. Towards that end, the most obvious thing is to present their own gubernatorial candidates for election in 2027 in the provinces of Buenos Aires, La Rioja, La Pampa, Tierra del Fuego and Formosa.

A parallel definition is to advance towards deals with allied governors in tune with the Casa Rosada. Alliances with Alfredo Cornejo (Mendoza), Leandro Zdero (Chaco) and Rogelio Frigerio (Entre Ríos) are envisioned, a list which could be expanded in the future. Those were the first three governors to be invited to the electoral panel headed by Karina Milei, seconded by Eduardo ‘Lule’ Menem and Interior Minister Diego Santilli. 

Provinces ‘permeable to understanding’

In the provincial ecosystem, there is a second line of governors with good links who are “permeable to future understandings,” but whose cases will have to be more carefully analysed closer to the date. 

“We cannot relax until the World Cup is over,” spelled out one official close to Karina, speaking off the record.

What is for sure is that the government must negotiate with the same players to chart its legislative agenda designed by the political panel, with the intention of passing as many laws as possible. 

This pending group is formed by Claudio Poggi (San Luis), Marcelo Orrego (San Juan), Raúl Jalil (Catamarca) and Osvaldo Jaldo (Tucumán), the latter two up for re-election. Jaldo’s situation is complicated by tense Peronist infighting with the sector responding to Juan Manzur.

The case of Misiones is also complex, due to open tension between provincial Governor Hugo Passalacqua (with plans for another term) and ex-governor Carlos Rovira, who runs the province by remote control. 

Córdoba and Santa Fe in crosshairs

La Libertad Avanza also aspires to stamping their brand on the nation’s major provinces like Córdoba. With Governor Martín Llaryora regularly criticising the Milei administration, the purple party will compete in the province with Congress LLA caucus chief Gabriel Bornoroni the favourite to head the slate.

Something similar could happen in Santa Fe, although the libertarian camp is wary when offering definitions, leaving the door open for the possibility of further conversations.

The case of Chubut Province, governed by PRO’s Ignacio Torres, is still an enigma. Although the provincial leader criticised agreements last year, within the province they maintain that this will be a different election in different contexts and are not slamming the door on any possibility. 

Salta, Jujuy, Santa Cruz, Neuquén and Río Negro are all grey areas. At the Casa Rosada, they remark that before sitting down to seal deals, various bills must be debated in Congress so that they can take a benevolent view of opening up negotiations following the legislative stage.

In order

Meanwhile, the entourage of presidential advisor Santiago Caputo contrasts the need to establish macro-economic agreements in order to ensure the administration’s governability.

“It is necessary to join in the agreements required to guarantee re-election and furthermore keep Congress in order,” maintained one aide to Caputo.

Electoral strategists forecast a choice of models for the country not so much concentrated in names, highlighting as an attribute the provinces sharing the electoral tool of the BUP (Boleta Única de Papel) single paper bullet – one of the keys they push for simplifying the electoral system along with the elimination of PASO primaries and the ‘Ley de Lemas’ (simultaneous primaries and elections).

The determination to expand understandings crisscrosses the infighting. The difference lies in the strategy deployed by the government for rapprochement with allied governors, which could revive old differences that arose in 2025. ​