After surprising Argentinian politics by finishing in first place in the August 13 presidential primaries, libertarian economist Javier Milei was hoping that momentum could be enough for him to secure a first round win in the October 22 election.
But that does not seem to have been the case. With no votes officially counted yet, Guillermo Francos, one of the top spokesmen in Mr. Milei’s Liberty Advances party, said “nobody is expecting a first-round win” shortly after polling stations closed.
Mr. Francos played down previous expectations and said that a runoff was always the most likely scenario.
Candidates need at least 40 percent of the vote plus a difference of 10 percentage points from the second-placed candidate in order to avoid a runoff.
Mr. Milei took 30 percent of the vote in the August 13 primaries, the center-right opposition led by Patricia Bullrich finished second with 28 percent, and Sergio Massa’s ruling center-left coalition took 27 percent, but blank votes are excluded from the final count, meaning that Mr. Milei would already be closer to 32 percent if a similar scenario materialized.
Optimism about a better-than-expected election is growing in the Massa camp, but official data will not be published before 10 pm Argentinian time (-03:00 GMT), and the final count could be delayed until past midnight.
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