Opposition ends 20-year Peronist rule in Argentina’s San Juan province

In a significant political shift, the opposition emerged victorious in the elections held in Argentina’s San Juan province (northwest) on Sunday, ending 20 years of Peronist mandates.

Marcelo Orrego, from the coalition Juntos por el Cambio (center-right), will assume the position of the new governor.

With 96.27% of the votes counted, the local branch of Juntos por el Cambio, known as Frente Unidos por San Juan, secured 50.97% of the total votes, combining the support for all its candidates (Marcelo Orrego, Marcelo Arancibia, Sergio Vallejos, and Eduardo Cáceres).

The ruling party’s Frente San Juan por Todos candidates received 44.45% of the votes.

The voter turnout reached approximately 70% of the 579,913 eligible voters, which represents only 1.69% of Argentina’s total electoral roll.

The electoral reform implemented in September 2022 in San Juan province introduced the Open Democratic Participation System, allowing each political group to present multiple lists of candidates.

Under this system, the most voted candidate within each party receives the votes that were cast for all other lists of that political force.

With 49.19% support, Orrego accumulates all the votes from his list.

Originally scheduled for May 14, the governor and vice-governor elections were delayed after the Supreme Court deemed the candidacy for a new reelection of the current governor, Sergio Uñac, unconstitutional.

Only elections for provincial legislators and municipal authorities were held on the rescheduled date.

According to the San Juan Constitution, the governor and vice-governor serve four-year terms and can be reelected consecutively up to two times.

Sergio Uñac, who concludes his term on December 10, was previously vice-governor from 2011 to 2015 before assuming the role of provincial governor.

José Luis Gioja, who received 27.43% support, governed from 2003 to 2015, marking two decades of Peronist rule.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision, the Electoral Court set the new date for the governor and vice-governor elections on Sunday.

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