Argentina’s presidential election is headed for a Nov. 22 runoff between outgoing Argentine President Cristina Fernandez’s chosen successor, Buenos Aires Governor Daniel Scioli, and Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri, partial results indicated yesterday.
The two candidates were neck-and-neck with about 35 percent each of the vote each, with just over 86 percent of polling stations reporting — although results were still pouring in from Scioli’s stronghold, Buenos Aires Province, where he has served as governor for the past eight years.
Scioli, a 58-year-old powerboating fanatic who lost his right arm in a 1989 racing accident, was considered the front-runner heading into the vote. However Macri sounded a triumphant note over the early results that put them at near equal footing.
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“What happened today changed the country’s politics,” Macri said in a euphoric speech to supporters before busting out his cumbia dance moves on stage.
“The challenges aren’t easy, but I have faith in myself,” he said.
Opinion polls had indicated Scioli was on the cusp of winning outright, but the race proved to be far closer than predicted.
The runoff will be the first ever in Argentina, which adopted a two-round presidential election system in 1973, but has never had a race go all the way to the second round.
Under Argentine electoral law, to win outright, a candidate must win more than 45 percent of the vote, or at least 40 percent with a margin of 10 percentage points over the runner-up.
Earlier, Scioli acknowledged the race was headed for a runoff as both sides awaited the official results.
“I call on all undecided and independent voters to bring a victory for all Argentines,” he said in a speech to thousands of supporters at his campaign headquarters. “I’ll face this new phase with more faith than ever.”
Third-place candidate Argentine Congressman Sergio Massa won 21 percent of the vote.
A former Fernandez ally, Massa fell out with the president and launched a rival party, the Renewal Front, two years ago.
The race draws a curtain on 12 years under Fernandez and her late husband, former Argentine president Nestor Kirchner.
Their legacy of trade protectionism, social welfare and defense of the working class — as well as a highly combative political style — is deeply divisive in Argentina.
Scioli, a self-described centrist, has vowed to uphold the core of “Kirchnerism.”
However, he has also promised a change in style to attract more investment and increase productivity.
Macri, a former soccer executive who rose to prominence with a trophy-encrusted reign at Argentina’s most popular club, Boca Juniors, has vowed to put an immediate and decisive end to the Kirchners’ hallmark policies.
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