Stakes are high in Argentina's fraught legislative election

In midterm elections today, President Nestor Kirchner is seeking to strengthen his mandate in Congress through his wife's run for the Senate, but the acrimonious campaign also was notable for its cast of characters -- not only the first lady but an ex-first lady, an ex-president and a popular actress

Cristina Kirchner, her voice raspy after months of mudslinging, finished campaigning late on Thursday against former First Lady Hilda "Chiche" Duhalde, who is herself the standard-bearer for her husband, ex-President Eduardo Duhalde -- Nestor Kirchner's predecessor and chief rival.

In today's vote, 24 of 72 Senate seats are up for grabs along with 127 of the 256 House seats.

Kirchner Duhalde and their first ladies hail from rival wings of the ruling Peronist party that controls the House and Senate. Both first ladies are seeking a Senate seat from Buenos Aires province in a bid to support their husbands' dueling leadership roles in the fractured yet powerful Peronist party.

The stakes are highest for Nestor Kirchner, a left-of-center president who won office from an obscure Patagonian province following Duhalde's caretaker presidency in 2002 and 2003 after a deep economic crisis here.

A victory for Cristina Kirchner would bolster the president's grip on Congress and clear a path toward a possible 2007 re-election bid if Kirchner can continue to sustain Argentina's recovery.