The province of The Pampa marked the start of the race for the national elections with a primary in Together for Change who gave victory to UCR on the PROa result that, in addition to giving radicalism a first boost in the national bid, implies a first setback for Horacio Rodriguez Larreta in its own internal
The radical Martín Berhongaray became the candidate for governor of the main opposition alliance that will face Sergio Ziliotto in the provincial elections on May 14, after prevailing over the PRO candidate Martín Maquieyrawith 53.4% against 43.5%, an advantage of about 3,000 votes.
Although the level of participation was low (in La Pampa primaries are only mandatory for fronts with more than one list and voting is voluntary) with just under 10% among independent voters and close to 30% among affiliates, the result has a logical political impact both within the province and at the national level of the alliance.
And it is that Maquieyra had the support of the entire PRO but his candidacy it was mainly a bet by Rodríguez Larreta in the maco of the bid that wages with the president of the PRO, Patricia Bullrichand also with the former president Mauricio Macri for the national candidacy and the electoral assembly of the party.
Elections in La Pampa: why does it influence the national inmate of the PRO?
About the final stretch of the campaign, Both Bullrich, Macri and María Eugenia Vidal visited La Pampa to support Maquieyra. However, different PRO sources agree that the deputy was driven mainly by Larreta in a move that even led the UCR to change its plans and get Senator Daniel Kroneberger – who had just won the 2021 legislatures – off the wagon to play with Berhongaray.
For this reason, the defeat of Maquieyra at the hands of Berhongaray It is a piece of information that can influence the pull that Larreta and Bullrich have as protagonists and Macri as interested, at least in the coming weeks.
Berhongaray, who prevailed over the PRO in La Pampa, is a man from Lousteau
Despite the fact that the national deputy was, strictly speaking, a unity candidate for the PRO, party sources consulted by iProfesional slipped that the result of the primary will not pass by in the internal discussion that takes place in the party ahead of the national elections.
The Buenos Aires head of government has a difficult negotiation underway with the former president, which delays his decision to run for president or not while playing with the expectation of his possible support for one of the two contenders. Days ago took a picture with Bullrich in the south that quickly had an electoral reading in the political sphere.
But the impact of the result of the first electoral test of the year can go beyond the internal one of the PRO, because Berhongaray is the political godson of Martín Lousteau, the pre-candidate for Buenos Aires head of government of radicalism that bothers the PRO and especially conditions Larreta.
The Juntos por el Cambio intern: Did Lousteau win a first round?
The formula headed by Berhongaray together with the provincial legislator Patricia Testa gave him a first win at UCR, who came out to celebrate together. Radicalism was able to revalidate its role as historical leadership of the opposition in a province governed by Peronism since 1983 and now he will lead the provincial campaign.
The person who celebrated the most was Lousteau, who traveled to La Pampa that same Sunday night to raise the winner’s arm. And it is that Berhongaray is part of the ranks of the Radical Evolution space led by the senator and who promotes his candidacy for head of the Buenos Aires Government against various figures of the PRO.
As anticipated by iProfessional, the sector of Lousteau began to pressure Larreta for a definition that matches that race. This is another tussle between the PRO and the UCR and the result of the La Pampa primaries could have some weight.
La Pampa marked the first round of the Juntos por el Cambio internship and could influence the national dispute
The head of government had been very close to the radical and there was talk of an alliance that worried the main figures of the PRO, the force that has governed the City of Buenos Aires since 2007. Larreta had to balance before the candidacy of the cousin of the former president and current minister of the Government of Buenos Aires, Jorge Macriand also bless other PRO figures such as the Minister of Health, Fernan Quiros.
Sources from the space led by Lousteau confirmed to this medium that, within the framework of this claim, the The negotiation goes through the possibility that Larreta separates the Buenos Aires elections from the presidential ones so that, in this way, there is a better level of competition between the UCR candidate and those of the PRO.
Macri’s position, who does not want anything to facilitate a possible victory for Lousteau in the City and for the PRO to lose its political cradle and territorial power base, also puts pressure on the head of government. It is in this context that, this Sunday, a Lousteau candidate prevailed over a PRO leader supported mainly by Larreta.
What the candidates and national leaders said
The main figures of Together for Change handled the result of the internship with diplomacy and, quite logically, reduced the weight of the difficult national internship while emphasizing the unity of the front.
In this sense, Rodríguez Larreta expressed: “Congratulations Martín Berhongaray for the election of JxC in La Pampa and to Martín Maquieyra who demonstrated that with commitment and a lot of work the first step can be taken to build change”.
In the same line, Maquieyra thanked the supportcongratulated the winner and expressed: “Now forward all together!”. With the exception of the candidate and Larreta, until Sunday night there were few expressions in the PRO about the result.
For his part, Loustau congratulated “Martín Berhongaray, the radical party and Together for Change” for having held “a very interesting primary that established the best candidate”. And he added: “La Pampa has a luxury candidate, with a lot of conviction and character.”
At the same time, the leader of Evolución affirmed that Berhongaray “is a candidate for governor for these times, without marketing, honest, with knowledge of a lot of technical issues and who knows his province like few others.”
“We have a united and mobilized party, willing to further strengthen JxC to transform La Pampa and the country”, said Gerardo Morales in turn.
