2007 Argentine general election

Argentina held national presidential and legislative elections on Sunday, October 28, 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%. Buenos Aires Province Senator and First Lady Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of the Front for Victory won the election by 45.28% of votes against Elisa Carrió of Civic Coalition ARI, making her the second female president of Argentina and the first female president to be directly elected.

2007 Argentine general election

October 28, 2007
Registered	27,137,536
Turnout	76.20%
Nominee Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Elisa Carrió Roberto Lavagna Party Justicialist Party Support for an Egalitarian Republic Independent Alliance Front for Victory Civic Coalition An Advanced Nation Home state Buenos Aires Province Chaco Province City of Buenos Aires Running mate Julio Cobos Rubén Giustiniani Gerardo Morales States carried 21 CABA 1 Popular vote 8,652,293 4,403,642 3,230,236 Percentage 45.28% 23.05% 16.91%
President before election Néstor Kirchner FPV-PJ Elected President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner FPV-PJ

President Néstor Kirchner (2nd from right) backs winning Front for Victory candidates (from L to R)
Daniel Scioli (Governor), Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (President) and Julio Cobos (Vice President).

Background

Elections for a successor to President Néstor 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 (two for the majority, one for the largest minority party). 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 Tucumán, 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 "ballotage" round, a candidate needs either more than 45% of the valid votes, or more than 40% of the valid votes with a margin of 10 points from the runner-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 Fernández de Kirchner, on July 19.[1] Acknowledging the support of a growing number of UCR figures ("K Radicals") to the populist policies advanced by Kirchnerism, the FpV nominated Mendoza Province Governor Julio Cobos as her running mate.[2]

The ideologically diverse field also included former Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna (who broke with Kirchner in late 2005, obtained the endorsement of the UCR, and ran slightly to the right of the FpV), Elisa Carrió (a center-left Congresswoman close to the Catholic Church),[3] and numerous conservatives and socialists; in all, fourteen candidates registered for the election. The UCR, for the first time since it first ran in a presidential campaign in 1892, joined a coalition (Lavagna's UNA) rather than nominate its own candidate.

The President, who 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, however, did not ultimately overshadow positive consumer sentiment and a generally high presidential job approval.[4]

The Front for Victory's candidate, Senator and First Lady Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, maintained a comfortable lead in polling during the campaign. Her opponents focused on denying her the vote share needed to win outright. However, with 13 challengers splitting the vote, Fernández won a decisive first-round victory with 45.3% of the valid votes, more than 22 percent ahead of runner-up Carrió and just a few hundred votes over the threshold for outright victory. She won in every province or district except San Luis (won by Alberto Rodríguez Saá), Córdoba (won by Lavagna), and the City of Buenos Aires (won by Carrió). Carrió, who obtained 23%, made history as the first runner-up to another woman in a national election in the Americas.[3]

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 Fernández de Kirchner: A leftist peronist, wife of current president Néstor 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 Carrió: A former Radical Civic Union lawmaker who left the party after President Fernando de la Rúa 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 Rubén Héctor Giustiniani and came in second with about 23% of the vote.
• Roberto Lavagna: Former Minister of Economy under Néstor 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 Rubén Morales.
• Alberto Rodríguez Saá: Governor of San Luis Province. He represented conservative Peronists opposed to Néstor Kirchner. His running mate was Héctor María Maya.
• Fernando Solanas: The renowned film maker represented the Authentic Socialist Party. Running mate: Ángel Francisco Cadelli.
• Jorge Omar Sobisch: Governor of Neuquén Province. Representing various conservative regional parties. Running mate: Jorge Asís.
• Ricardo López 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: Héctor Bidonde, both longtime Socialists.
• Néstor Pitrola: Representing the Trotskyist Workers' Party. Running mate: Gabriela Adriana Arroyo.
• José Alberto Montes: A Trotskyite who opposed privatizations under Carlos Menem. His running mate was Héctor Antonio Heberling.
• Luis Alberto Ammann: Representing the Humanist Party-led Broad Front Towards Latin American Unity Alliance. Running mate: Rogelio Deleonardi.
• Raúl 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: Héctor Raúl Vergara.
• Juan Ricardo Mussa: Perennial candidate and self-styled "traditional" Peronist. Running mate: Bernardo Nespral.

• 
  Fernández de Kirchner
• 
  Carrió
• 
  Lavagna
• 
  Rodríguez Saá
• 
  Solanas

Results

President

Results by department.

Presidential candidate		Vice Presidential candidate	Party or Coalition	Votes	%
	Cristina Fernández de Kirchner	Julio Cobos	Alianza Frente para la Victoria Confederación Frente Cívico para la Concertación Plural Partido Conservador Popular Partido de la Victoria Broad Front Intransigent Party Justicialist Party Freemen of the South Movement	8,652,293	45.28
	Elisa Carrió	Rubén Giustiniani	Alianza Confederación Coalición Cívica Afirmación para una República Igualitaria Cambio Jujeño Coalición Cívica Encuentro Cívico por la Igualdad y la Justicia Movimiento Afirmación Republicana Movimiento Vecinalista Provincial Socialist Party	4,403,642	23.05
	Roberto Lavagna	Gerardo Morales	Alianza Concertación para una Nación Avanzada Concertación para una Nación Avanzada Integration and Development Movement Radical Civic Union	3,230,236	16.91
	Alberto Rodríguez Saá	Héctor María Maya	Alianza Frente Justicia, Unión y Libertad Union of the Democratic Centre Union and Liberty Party	1,459,174	7.64
	Fernando Solanas	Angel Cadelli	Authentic Socialist Party	301,537	1.58
	Ricardo López Murphy	Esteban Bullrich	Recreate for Growth	273,406	1.43
	Jorge Sobisch	Jorge Asís	Movimiento por las Provincias Unidas Movimiento de Acción Vecinal Movement for Dignity and Independence Popular Union	268,401	1.40
	Vilma Ripoll	Héctor Bidonde	Workers' Socialist Movement	142,528	0.75
	Néstor Pitrola	Gabriela Arroyo	Workers' Party	116,688	0.61
	José Montes	Héctor Heberling	Alianza Frente de Izquierda y los Trabajadores por el Socialismo Socialist Workers' Party Movement for Socialism	84,694	0.44
	Luis Ammann	Rogelio de Leonardi	Alianza Frente Amplio hacia la Unidad Latinoamericana Communist Party Humanist Party	69,787	0.37
	Raúl Castells	Nina Pelozo	Movimiento Independiente de Jubilados y Desocupados	48.878	0.26
	Gustavo Breide Obeid	Héctor Vergara	Peoples Reconstruction Party	45,318	0.24
	Juan Ricardo Mussa	Bernardo Nespral	Confederación Lealtad Popular	10,558	0.06
Total				19,107,140	100
Positive votes				19,107,140	97.28
Blank votes				1,331,011	6.44
Invalid votes				241,175	1.17
Votes errors				1	0.00
Turnout				20,679,327	76.20
Abstentions				6,458,209	23.80
Registered voters				27,137,536	100
Source: Dirección Nacional Electoral - Recorriendo las Elecciones de 1983 a 2013

Votes Fernández   45.28% Carrió   23.05% Lavagna   16.91% Rodríguez Saá   7.64% Others   7.12%

Congress

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

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. Néstor 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 Ríos (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.[5]

Corrientes Province and Santiago del Estero Province did not have elections for governors in 2007, as they had already taken place in 2005.

District	Elected Governor	Party	%	Runner-up	Party	%
Buenos Aires	Daniel Scioli	Front for Victory (FPV)	48.2	Margarita Stolbizer	Civic Coalition	16.6
Catamarca	Eduardo Brizuela del Moral	Civic Social Front - FPV	52.6	Luis Barrionuevo	Justicialist Party (JP)	37.6
Chaco	Jorge Capitanich	Justicialist	46.8	Ángel Rozas ^L	Front for All (UCR)	46.6
Chubut	Mario Das Neves	Justicialist	76.7	Raúl Barneche	UCR	13.5
City of Buenos Aires	Mauricio Macri	PRO	60.9	Daniel Filmus ^L	Front for Victory (FPV)	39.1
Córdoba^1	Juan Schiaretti	Justicialist	37.2	Luis Juez	Social and Civic Agreement	36.0
Entre Ríos	Sergio Urribarri	FPV	47.0	Gustavo Cusinato	UCR	19.9
Formosa	Gildo Insfrán ^R	Justicialist	76.0	Gabriel Hernández	UCR	19.2
Jujuy	Walter Barrionuevo	FPV	36.0	Carlos Snopek	Jujuy First Alliance	30.0
La Pampa	Óscar Jorge	Justicialist	53.5	Juan Carlos Marino	Social and Civic Agreement	36.6
La Rioja	Luis Beder Herrera ^R	La Rioja People's Front	42.6	Ricardo Quintela	FPV	27.8
Mendoza	Celso Jaque	Justicialist	37.9	César Biffi	Citizen's Alliance	30.0
Misiones	Maurice Closs	Front for the Renewal of Concord	38.4	Pablo Tschirsch	FPV	28.6
Neuquén	Jorge Sapag	Neuquén People's Movement	48.3	Horacio Quiroga	FPV - UCR Alliance	35.0
Río Negro	Miguel Saiz	UCR	47.3	Miguel Ángel Pichetto	FPV	40.8
Salta	Juan Manuel Urtubey	Salta Renewal Party - FPV Alliance	46.3	Walter Wayar	Justicialist	45.3
San Juan	José Luis Gioja	FPV	61.2	Roberto Basualdo	Front for Change	24.5
San Luis	Alberto Rodríguez Saá ^R	Justicialist	86.3	Roque Palma	Popular Socialist	9.8
Santa Cruz	Daniel Peralta	FPV	58.1	Eduardo Costa	UCR	38.8
Santa Fe	Hermes Binner	Progressive, Civic and Social Front	52.7	Rafael Bielsa	FPV	41.9
Santiago del Estero^2	Gerardo Zamora ^R	Civic Front for Santiago	85.1	Marcelo Lugones	Popular Unity Force (UCR)	5.0
Tierra del Fuego	Fabiana Ríos	ARI	52.4	Hugo Cóccaro	FPV	47.6
Tucumán	José Alperovich ^R	FPV	78.2	Ricardo Bussi	Republican Force	5.3
Sources: Clarín, September 3, 2007. National Electoral Direction, Ministry of Interior. 1: Civic and Social Front candidate Luis Juez, who lost by 1.1%, accused Justicialist candidate Juan Schiaretti of electoral fraud; the Argentine Supreme Court certified the results in October.[6] 2: Election held November 30, 2008. R: Reelected. L: Incumbent lost.

References

1. La Nación (in Spanish)
2. Página/12 (in Spanish)
3. Con perfume de mujer (in Spanish) El Espectador
4. Reuters (5/30?2007)
5. Pour la première fois, un socialiste est élu gouverneur d'une province argentine, Le Monde, September 4, 2007 (in French)
6. "Córdoba: la Justicia confirmó su triunfo y Schiaretti ya es gobernador electo". Clarín. October 19, 2007.

External links

• (in Spanish) National Electoral Direction – Ministry of Interior of Argentina
• (in Spanish and English) Argentina Elections
• (in Spanish) Official Election Results