Kicillof cements role, can now eye 2027 presidential run

Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof took a decisive step on Sunday, consolidating his standing both within Peronism and projecting himself towards the 2027 presidential elections. He did so after securing a resounding victory in his district against the alliance of La Libertad Avanza and a handful of PRO leaders.

In light of the results, Kicillof’s political and electoral strategy has proved to be successful: decoupling the provincial vote from the national calendar worked in his favour. His central role in the campaign allows him to emerge as the evening’s clear winner.

The party faithful made that clear on a freezing night in La Plata as Peronism once again savoured victory. The crowd chanted for “Es para Axel la conducción” with eyes fixed on La Cámpora, the Kirchnerite faction with which the governor had fought a bitter internal battle over the candidate lists that dragged on even beyond the legal deadlines.

Kicillof took note of that call. He said that Sunday’s win would be the beginning of “a path that starts to be travelled” and announced plans to build bridges of dialogue with governors from other provinces. A presidential project in the making?

The victory of this Peronist unity slate, led by Kicillof, appears to settle the internal disputes that had not been resolved even with the forced unification of the lists: the different factions campaigned separately, La Cámpora on one side and Kicillof on the other, with both public clashes and private recriminations.

Even former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who had opposed the strategy of decoupling, set aside her objections. She sent a recorded audio message recognising the campaign that was played out onstage. Kicillof acknowledged the gesture and declared that the imprisonment of the former leader on house arrest for corruption charges is “unjust.”

The Buenos Aires Province governor, who began his political career in Buenos Aires City, appears to have drawn lessons from the recent experience of his predecessors in office. He took the risk of pursuing an unprecedented path of autonomy in the province to confront the government of Javier Milei, which has been emboldened by victories in several provinces but also tarnished by recent corruption scandals.

As with any decision, it could have gone badly or proved fortunate. And against all predictions – as has become the rule in Argentine politics in recent years – the results surprised even the protagonists themselves.