2007 Argentine general election

Argentina held national presidential and legislative elections on Sunday, 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%. 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

Presidential election
28 October 2007
Registered	27,137,719
Turnout	76.20%
Nominee Cristina 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%
Most voted party by province (left) and department (right).
President before election Néstor Kirchner FPV-PJ Elected President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner FPV-PJ
Legislative election
28 October 2007
130 of 254 seats in the Chamber of Deputies 27 of 75 seats in the Senate
Turnout	76.21% (Deputies) 73.93% (Senate)
Party Leader % Seats ± Chamber of Deputies Front for Victory 41.22% 84 +14 Civic Coalition 16.47% 23 +10 Consensus for an Advanced Nation 13.26% 12 -7 Recreate for Growth / Republican Proposal 5.33% 6 -3 Justice, Union and Freedom Front 4.70% 3 -8 Project South 1.70% 1 +1 Neuquén People's Movement 0.25% 1 -1 Senate Front for Victory 45.33% 17 0 Civic Coalition 19.74% 4 +4 Consensus for an Advanced Nation 14.30% 2 -1 Neuquén People's Movement 1.21% 1 +1 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

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 forcing her into a ballotage. However, with 13 challengers splitting the vote, Fernández won a decisive first-round victory with 45.3% of the valid votes, more than 22 points ahead of runner-up Carrió. 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 center-left Peronist, wife of then-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

Presidential candidate	Vice Presidential candidate	Party		Votes	%
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner	Julio Cobos		Front for Victory (FPV)	8,652,293	45.29
Elisa Carrió	Rubén Giustiniani		Civic Coalition (CC)	4,403,642	23.04
Roberto Lavagna	Gerardo Morales		Consensus for an Advanced Nation (UNA)	3,230,236	16.91
Alberto Rodríguez Saá	Héctor María Maya		Justice, Union and Freedom Front (FREJULI)	1,459,174	7.64
Fernando Solanas	Ángel Cadelli		Authentic Socialist Party (PSA)	301,543	1.58
Ricardo López Murphy	Esteban Bullrich		Recreate for Growth (Recrear)	273,406	1.43
Jorge Sobisch	Jorge Asís		Total Sobisch - Asís	268,395	1.40
			The United Provinces Movement	152,448	0.80
			Popular Union (UP)	69,126	0.36
			Neighborhood Action Movement (MAV)	36,831	0.19
			Movement for Dignity and Independence (MODIN)	9,987	0.05
			Independent Movement of Retirees and Unemployed of Neuquén (MIJD)	3	0.00
Vilma Ripoll	Héctor Bidonde		Workers' Socialist Movement (MST)	142,528	0.75
Néstor Pitrola	Gabriela Arroyo		Workers' Party (PO)	116,688	0.61
José Montes	Héctor Heberling		Left and Workers Front for Socialism	84,694	0.44
Luis Ammann	Rogelio de Leonardi		Broad Front towards Latin American Unity (FRAL)	69,787	0.37
Raúl Castells	Nina Pelozo		Independent Movement of Retirees and Unemployed (MIJD)	48,878	0.26
Gustavo Breide Obeid	Héctor Vergara		People's Reconstruction Party (PPR)	45,318	0.24
Juan Ricardo Mussa	Bernardo Nespral		Popular Loyalty Confederation	10,558	0.06
Total				19,107,140	100
Positive votes				19,107,140	92.40
Blank votes				1,331,010	6.44
Invalid votes				241,176	1.17
Tally sheet differences				1	0.00
Total votes				20,679,327	100
Registered voters/turnout				27,137,719	76.20
Sources:[5][6]

Chamber of Deputies

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).

Party		Votes	%	Seats won	Total seats
	Front for Victory (FPV)	8,524,699	41.22	84	154
	Civic Coalition (CC)	3,406,840	16.47	23	36
	Consensus for an Advanced Nation (UNA)	2,741,843	13.26	12	31
	Recreate for Growth / Republican Proposal	1,102,035	5.33	6	15
	Justice, Union and Freedom Front (FREJULI)	972,391	4.70	3	14
	Project South	352,566	1.70	1	1
	The United Provinces Movement	196,009	0.95	—	—
	Workers' Socialist Movement (MST)	159,336	0.77	—	—
	Workers' Party (PO)	126,729	0.61	—	—
	Left and Workers Front for Socialism	86,246	0.42	—	—
	Broad Front towards Latin American Unity (FRAL)	75,191	0.36	—	—
	Neuquén People's Movement (MPN)	50,676	0.25	1	3
	Porteño Consensus	50,432	0.24	—	—
	Independent Movement of Retirees and Unemployed (MIJD)	34,405	0.17	—	—
	People's Reconstruction Party (PPR)	27,800	0.13	—	—
	Socialist Convergence	20,201	0.10	—	—
	Federal Retirees Movement	15,667	0.08	—	—
	Front for Peace and Justice	12,889	0.06	—	—
	Call for Citizen Integration	12,265	0.06	—	—
	Emancipatory Front	10,717	0.05	—	—
	Popular Movement for the Reconquest	9,271	0.04	—	—
	Renewal Party of the Province of Buenos Aires	7,206	0.03	—	—
	Entre Ríos Broad Encounter	7,141	0.03	—	—
	Popular Concentration	6,881	0.03	—	—
	Buenos Aires Independent Solidary Action	6,618	0.03	—	—
	Front of Self-Convened Political Groups	6,363	0.03	—	—
	Movement of Work	6,242	0.03	—	—
	Patriotic Movement	6,073	0.03	—	—
	Corrientes First Front	5,814	0.03	—	—
	Objective Will to Serve	4,833	0.02	—	—
	Revolutionary Socialist League	4,724	0.02	—	—
	Chubut Action Party (PACH)	4,601	0.02	—	—
	Popular Sovereignty Front	4,277	0.02	—	—
	Popular Participation Party	3,119	0.02	—	—
	Popular Consensus	3,031	0.01	—	—
	Citizen Action	2,778	0.01	—	—
	Popular Assemblies	2,700	0.01	—	—
	Independent Party of Chubut	2,255	0.01	—	—
	Broad Popular Encounter	2,227	0.01	—	—
	Fueguian People's Movement (MOPOF)	2,216	0.01	—	—
	Autonomist Party of Catamarca	2,204	0.01	—	—
	Provincial Action	2,142	0.01	—	—
	Future Republic Movement	1,896	0.01	—	—
	Authentic Fuegian Party	1,830	0.01	—	—
	United People	1,434	0.01	—	—
	Provincial Defense - White Flag	1,405	0.01	—	—
	Fuegian Action Front	1,241	0.01	—	—
	La Pampa Federalist Movement (MOFEPA)	895	0.00	—	—
	Union for La Rioja	562	0.00	—	—
	The Movement	184	0.00	—	—
	People's Party of Neuquén	2	0.00	—	—
	New Front	Did not run		—	3
Total		18,091,102	100	130	257
Positive votes		18,091,102	87.48
Blank votes		2,360,967	11.42
Invalid votes		228,594	1.11
Total votes		20,680,663	100
Registered voters/turnout		27,137,536	76.21
Sources:[7][6]

Senate

Party		Votes	%	Seats won	Total seats
	Front for Victory (FPV)	1,927,701	45.33	17	47
	Civic Coalition (CC)	839,235	19.74	4	5
	Consensus for an Advanced Nation (UNA)	608,251	14.30	2	11
	Recreate for Growth / Republican Proposal	275,555	6.48	—	1
	Justice, Union and Freedom Front (FREJULI)	196,989	4.63	—	4
	Project South	126,859	2.98	—	—
	Neuquén People's Movement (MPN)	51,451	1.21	1	1
	Porteño Consensus	45,464	1.07	—	—
	Workers' Socialist Movement (MST)	43,776	1.03	—	—
	Workers' Party (PO)	34,480	0.81	—	—
	The United Provinces Movement	25,309	0.60	—	—
	Broad Front towards Latin American Unity (FRAL)	16,664	0.39	—	—
	People's Reconstruction Party (PPR)	10,651	0.25	—	—
	Left and Workers Front for Socialism	9,366	0.22	—	—
	Entre Ríos Broad Encounter	7,615	0.18	—	—
	Independent Movement of Retirees and Unemployed (MIJD)	6,503	0.15	—	—
	Revolutionary Socialist League	4,538	0.11	—	—
	Popular Sovereignty Front	3,589	0.08	—	—
	Socialist Convergence	3,413	0.08	—	—
	Citizen Action	2,668	0.06	—	—
	Popular Assemblies	2,537	0.06	—	—
	Future Republic Movement	2,267	0.05	—	—
	Fuegian Action Front	1,935	0.05	—	—
	Broad Popular Encounter	1,782	0.04	—	—
	Fueguian People's Movement (MOPOF)	1,585	0.04	—	—
	Authentic Fuegian Party	1,344	0.03	—	—
	Call for Citizen Integration	653	0.02	—	—
	The Movement	155	0.00	—	—
	Popular Party	3	0.00	—	—
	Republican Force (FR)	Did not run		—	2
	New Front	Did not run		—	1
Total		4,252,338	100	24	72
Positive votes		4,252,338	91.00
Blank votes		364,388	7.80
Invalid votes		56,066	1.20
Total votes		4,672,792	100
Registered voters/turnout		6,320,953	73.93
Sources:[8][6]

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.[9]

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.[10] 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. "Recorriendo las Elecciones de 1983 a 2013 - Presidenciales". Dirección Nacional Electoral.
6. "Elecciones Generales 28 DE OCTUBRE DE 2007" (PDF). Ministry of the Interior. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 9, 2012.
7. "Recorriendo las Elecciones de 1983 a 2013 - Diputados Nacionales". Dirección Nacional Electoral.
8. "Recorriendo las Elecciones de 1983 a 2013 - Senadores Nacionales". Dirección Nacional Electoral.
9. Pour la première fois, un socialiste est élu gouverneur d'une province argentine, Le Monde, September 4, 2007 (in French)
10. "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