Argentinian centrists win big in key provincial primary

When voters went to the polls yesterday in Santa Fe, the third-largest province in Argentina, all eyes were on the center-right gubernatorial primary between hawk Carolina Losada and dove Maximiliano Pullaro, a proxy for the national battle between Patricia Bullrich and Horacio Rodríguez Larreta in next month’s presidential primary.

The result was a big win for Messrs. Pullaro and Larreta. The centrist alternative took 36 percent of the provincial vote, compared to just 20 percent for Ms. Losada.

The victory came after a heated primary campaign in which Ms. Losada accused Mr. Pullaro of being an accomplice to the violent drug trade that has taken over key areas of the province, while former President Mauricio Macri also dropped his veneer of neutrality to explicitly endorse Ms. Losada. 

When combined with other smaller candidates, the center-right coalition took 61.5 percent of the provincial vote, a resounding result that means Mr. Pullaro is likely to become governor after the general provincial elections in September.

Argentina’s mandatory, open, and simultaneous primary system (PASO) means that the combined results of each coalition’s primary candidates often give a good approximation of the final result in the general election shortly thereafter.

In the center-left Peronist primary, meanwhile, moderate Marcelo Lewandowski won with only 14.1 percent of the vote, while the coalition’s total was only 21.6 percent, a result that bodes poorly not only for Peronism’s chances in the province, but also for presidential hopeful Sergio Massa.

Santa Fe is generally seen as favorable to the center-right coalition, given its status as a grain-exporting hub in constant conflict with the Kirchner family that dominated Argentinian politics over the last two decades based on strong restrictions on exports. 

But the Peronist coalition will need to at least prove more competitive in the province if it wants to retain some national hope.

More on the upcoming elections in Argentina: