A coalition between Radical Governor Leandro Zdero and La Libertad Avanza (LLA) scored a decisive victory in Chaco’s legislative elections on Sunday, taking advantage of Peronist division.
The big loser from the night was former three-term governor Jorge Capitanich, the veteran Peronist politician who failed to unite the opposition.
With 98.89 percent of votes reporting, the ruling alliance secured eight of the 16 seats in play, edging closer to a legislative majority by combining UCR and LLA support. Capitanich’s coalition, Chaco Merece Más, won six seats, while the breakaway Peronist Primero Chaco force secured two. The remaining parties failed to meet the threshold for representation.
The result marks the first provincial win for a formal alliance between President Javier Milei’s La Libertad Avanza and the Unión Cívica Radical – a traditional, dialogue-oriented party which has supported several government bills in Congress.
Capitanich’s attempt to unify Peronism faltered after several mayors broke away to form Primero Chaco.
The winning Chaco Puede Más + LLA ticket took 45.26 percent of the vote, followed by Chaco Merece Más with 33.47 percent and Primero Chaco with 11.3 percent. Just over half of eligible voters turned out — the lowest participation rate since Argentina’s return to democracy in 1983.
Zdero nevertheless celebrated taking half the seats up for grabs, declaring: “We ran a great campaign.”
“Our message was ‘new faces, concrete ideas’ and the public clearly backed that,” said the governor. “The people of Chaco stood up and said this province can become the one our grandparents and parents dreamed of.”
Capitanich conceded defeat two hours after polls closed, with just 40 percent of ballots counted, describing the trend as “favourable” towards the ruling coalition. Speaking at the local branch of the Partido Justicialista, he acknowledged poor early results but said the distribution of seats remained to be defined.
Of the 11 party lists contesting the election, only three cleared the threshold to win seats. Voting was conducted with colour-coded paper ballots featuring the lead candidate’s photograph, with more than one million chaqueños eligible to cast a vote.
The victorious coalition will send eight deputies to the legislature, while the PJ caucus retains the six seats it had. Primero Chaco, led by Peronist deputy Atlanto Honcheruk, also retained its presence, returning two.
– TIMES/NA/PERFIL
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