MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Incumbent's brother elected Governor of Corrientes

Milei's candidate finished fourth and cried foul play

If Sunday's gubernatorial elections in the Argentine province of Corrientes are anything to go by, given the upcoming mid-term polls, President Javier Milei's candidate took fourth place while Juan Pablo Valdés of the “Vamos Corrientes” coalition - and brother of incumbent Goovernor Gustavo Valdés - secured victory in the first round with 52% of the vote, which is enough to avoid a runoff. The Radical Civic Union (UCR), to which the Valdés brothers belong, has now governed the province for 24 years.

The Peronist candidate Martín “Tincho” Ascúa came in second place with 20% of the vote, while Ricardo Colombi was third with 17.27%. The candidate for Milei's La Libertad Avanza Claudio Lisandro Almirón finished in fourth place with 8.24%. Voter turnout for the election was 72.4%.

“Corrientes has decided that it has a new governor in the first round,” Valdés said, adding, “We are closing this chapter to work together in the future.”

In addition, his brother Gustavo called for “working through dialogue” and highlighting the work of the Provincias Unidas (United Provinces) coalition in supporting “federalism.” He also lamented that “it was one of the dirtiest campaigns in recent memory.”

Bad weather in some towns, such as Virasoro, where it hailed, complicated voting at some point, according to local media. Corrientes residents also chose 15 provincial deputies, five senators, and mayors in 73 towns, including the province's capital.

La Libertad Avanza was quick to issue a statement denouncing “irregularities typical of old-style politics ... in an attempt to prevent the inevitable end of a long cycle of hegemony. La Libertad Avanza is the only real alternative in Corrientes.”