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Argentine general election, 2007
Argentina held national presidential and legislative elections on 28 October 2007, and elections for provincial governors took place on staggered dates throughout the year. For the national elections, each of the 23 provinces and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires are considered electoral districts. Voter turnout was 76.2%.
Background
Elections for a successor to President Nestor Kirchner were held in October. Kirchner had declined to run for a second term.
In addition to the President, each district elected a number of members of the Lower House (the Chamber of Deputies) roughly proportional to their population, and eight districts elected members to the Argentine Senate, where each district is entitled to three senators . In most provinces, the national elections were conducted in parallel with local ones, whereby a number of municipalities elect legislative officials (concejales) and in some cases also a mayor (or the equivalent executive post). Each provincial election follows local regulations and some, such as Tucuman, hold municipal elections on other dates in the year.
According to the rules for elections in Argentina, to win the presidential election without needing a runoff round, a candidate needs either no more than 45% of the valid votes, or more than 40% of the valid votes with a margin of 10 points from the ruuner-up. Following months of speculation, and despite high approval ratings, President Kirchner confirmed his decision to forfeit the 2007 race, and the ruling Front for Victory (FpV), a center-left Peronist Party, nominated the First Lady, Senator Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, on July 19. La Nacion Acknowledging the support of a growing number of UCR figures ("K Radicals") to the populist agenda advanced by Kirchnerism, the party nominated Mendoza Province Governor Julio Cobos as her running mate. Pagina/12
The ideologically diverse field also included former Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna , Elisa Carrio (a center-left Congresswoman close to the Catholic Church who made history as the first runner-up to another woman in a national election in the Americas), and numerous conservatives and socialists; in all, fourteen candidates registered for the election.
The President, who had had maintained high approval ratings throughout his term on the heels of a strong recovery in the Argentine economy, was beset by controversies during 2007, including Commerce Secretary Guillermo Moreno's firing of Graciela Bevacqua (the INDEC statistician overseeing inflation data), allegations of Planning Minister Julio de Vido's involvement in a Skanska bribery case, and the "suitcase scandal." These controversies did not overshadow positive consumer sentiment and generally high presidential job approval, however. Reuters (5/30?2007)
President Kirchner allowed suspense over his candidacy to mount until late June, when his wife, Senator Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, accepted the Front for Victory nomination. She maintained a comfortable lead in polling during the campaign, and won the presidency without the need for a runoff round, with 45.8% of the valid votes.
Elected governors
The elections for governors took place in ten provinces in September, which were won in six provinces by Kirchner's Front for Victory. Hermes Binner was elected governor of Santa Fe, defeating Peronist Rafael Bielsa, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs for Pres. Nestor Kirchner. Binner thus became the first Socialist governor in Argentina's history and the first non-Justicialist elected governor of that province. Center-left Fabiana Rios (ARI) became the first woman elected governor in Argentina, winning an upset in Tierra del Fuego Province, while the moderately conservative Mauricio Macri was elected Mayor of Buenos Aires (an office similar to governor) in June 2007. Pour la premiere fois, un socialiste est elu gouverneur d'une province argentine, Le Monde, 4 September 2007
List of elected governors
Sources: Clarin, 3 September 2007. National Electoral Direction, Ministry of Interior.
Corrientes Province and Santiago del Estero Province did not have elections for governors in 2007, as they had already taken place in 2005.
Buenos Aires (Mayor), 24 June 2007 — Mauricio Macri
Buenos Aires Province, 28 October 2007 — Daniel Osvaldo Scioli
Catamarca, 11 March 2007 — Eduardo Brizuela del Moral
Chaco, 16 September 2007 — Jorge Capitanich
Chubut, 16 September 2007 — Mario Das Neves
Cordoba, June 2007 — Juan Schiaretti Mas polemica en Cordoba, Clarin, 3 September 2007
Entre Rios, 18 March 2007 — Sergio Urribarri
Formosa, 28 October 2007 — Gildo Insfran
Jujuy, 28 October 2007 — Walter Barrionuevo
La Pampa, 28 October 2007 — Oscar Mario Jorge
La Rioja, 19 August 2007 — Luis Beder Herrera
Mendoza, 28 October 2007 — Celso Jaque
Misiones, 28 October 2007 — Maurice Closs
Neuquen, 3 June 2007 — Jorge Sapag
Rio Negro, 20 March 2007 — Miguel Saiz
Salta, 28 October 2007 — Juan Manuel Urtubey
San Juan, 12 August 2007 — Jose Luis Gioja
San Luis, 19 August 2007 — Alberto Rodriguez Saa
Santa Cruz, 28 October 2007 — Daniel Roman Peralta
Santa Fe, 2 September 2007 — Hermes Binner
Tierra del Fuego, 24 June 2007 — Fabiana Rios (Support for an Egalitarian Republic (ARI), 52.0% - runoff)
Tucuman, 26 August 2007 — Jose Alperovich (FPV - PJ 82.6%)
Presidential candidates
A total of 14 candidates were on the presidential ballot, although only 3 or 4 garnered statistically significant amounts of support in polls. The candidates were as follows:
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner: A leftist peronist, wife of current president Nestor Kirchner and his chosen successor, since he declined to run for reelection. She won the presidency in the first round with about 45% of the vote.
Elisa Carrio: A former Radical Civic Union lawmaker who left the party after President Fernando de la Rua abandoned his left-wing allies. She participated in the 2003 election and reached fifth place. Close to the influential Catholic Church, she ran a center-left platform with running mate Ruben Hector Giustiniani and came in second with about 23% of the vote.
Roberto Lavagna: Former Minister of Economy under Nestor Kirchner, who broke ranks with the president in late 2005. He received support from moderate Peronists and was endorsed by the centrist Radical Civic Union, in lieu of putting forth a candidate themselves. He ran on a platform described as "center-progressive" and came in third, with 17% of the vote. His running mate was Gerardo Ruben Morales.
Alberto Rodriguez Saa: Current governor of San Luis Province. He represented conservative Peronists opposed to Nestor Kirchner. His running mate was Hector Maria Maya.
Fernando Solanas: The renowned film maker represented the Authentic Socialist Party. Running mate: Angel Francisco Cadelli.
Jorge Omar Sobisch: Governor of Neuquen Province. Representing various conservative regional parties. Running mate: Jorge Asis.
Ricardo Lopez Murphy: Representing the center-right Recreate for Growth party, in alliance with the Republican Proposal party of newly-elected Buenos Aires mayor Mauricio Macri. He previously ran in the 2003 election, reaching third place. Running mate: Esteban Bullrich.
Vilma Ripoll: Running mate: Hector Bidonde, both respected, longtime Socialists.
Nestor Pitrola: Representing the Trotskyist Workers' Party. Running mate: Gabriela Adriana Arroyo.
Jose Alberto Montes: A Trotskyite who opposed privatization under Carlos Menem. His running mate was Hector Antonio Heberling.
Luis Alberto Ammann: Representing the Humanist Party-led Broad Front Towards Latin American Unity Alliance. Running mate: Rogelio Deleonardi.
Raul Castells: A piquetero (poverty activist) who participated in various incidents. His running mate was his wife Nina Pelozo.
Gustavo Luis Breide Obeid: A right-wing nationalist who participated in a failed coup against Carlos Menem in 1990. Running mate: Hector Raul Vergara.
Juan Ricardo Mussa: Perennial candidate and self-styled "traditional" Peronist. Running mate: Bernardo Nespral.
Legislative election results
Elections were also held for 130 of the 257 members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies and for 24 of the 72 members of the Argentine Senate. Results were as follows:
;Chamber of Deputies
Front for Victory: 78 MPs (+13), total 153 MPs
Civic Coalition Confederation: 19 MPs (+13), total 27 MPs
Radical Civic Union: 14 MPs (7), total 30 MPs
Republican Proposal: 2 MPs (11), total 13 MPs
anti-Kirchnerist Peronist parties: 2 MPs (15), total 9 MPs
others: 15 MPs (+7), total 25 MPs
;Senate
Front for Victory: +3 senators, total 44 senators
Civic Coalition Confederation: +4 senators, total 5 senators
Radical Civic Union: 5 senators, total 10 senators
anti-Kirchnerist Peronist parties: 0 senators, total 4 senators
provincial parties: 0 senators, total 9 senators
External links
National Electoral Direction - Ministry of Interior of Argentina.
Argentina Elections 2007.
Official Election Results .
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