With a significant increase in participation Regarding the primary elections, Chaco returned to the polls this Sunday to elect its next governor, in an election that is closed-ended and where the unknown is whether or not there will be a runoff.
The dispute is between the current governor, the Peronist Jorge Capitanichand the radical of Together for Change Leandro Zderothe two candidates with the most votes in the provincial PASO.
In the primaries Zdero gave the surprise. He won the intern against also radical Juan Carlos Polini but gave him the space, Together for Change, it was the most voted force in the province. It obtained 42.4% of the votes, five more than Capitanich’s Chaco Front (37.3%).
With a system similar to the presidential elections, to be elected governor in the Chaco general elections this Sunday It is necessary to exceed 45% of the votes or get 40% and 10 ahead with the second candidate. Otherwise, the election will be defined in a ballot, which is scheduled for Sunday, October 8.
With the polls already closed, what floats in the air is the uncertainty. Some exit polls that circulated on WhatsApp spoke of a parity above 40 points, but no one wants to gamble.
As confirmed to Clarion sources close to Patricia Bullrichthe candidate for president of Together for Change will be present in the Zdero bunker. They trust they can get into a second round.
The fact that is confirmed is that participation rose. According to official data confirmed by the Government spokesperson, Juan Manuel Chapo, the Attendance was around 68%, almost six points more than in the PASO provincial.
The numbers are still lower than in the 2019 gubernatorial election, when turnout was 72%. On that occasion there were no primaries.
He absenteeism had been transversal to the entire province in these 2023 primaries, Therefore, it was not clear in the preview for which sector this flow of new votes would be most beneficial.
On that occasion, the elections had been very marked by the recent femicide of Cecilia Strzyzowskifor which the picketer was arrested Emerenciano Sena and his family, historical allies of Capitanich. Today The topic went cold. It is not on the street and it was not on the agenda.
What does remain in society is fatigue with politics. They comment it to Clarion voters of the two majority forces.
The blank vote was also felt strongly in the provincial primaries: was the third forcewith 68,217 votes, surpassing the mayor of Resistencia, Gustavo Martínez (CER), who got 49,115 (8.86%).
Leandro Zdero, candidate for governor of Together for Change, during the closing of the campaign in Resistencia (Photo: Twitter Gustavo Valdés)If both Capitanich and Zdero do not get the 45% of the votes they need to win in the first round, all eyes will be on the fight for third place. It is a bronze that quotes.
Gustavo Martínez (Current of Renewed Expression), a Peronist at odds with Capitanich, fights to keep that brand. “The two forces are going to have to see what they offer,” a source with years of history in the Government palace speculated to this newspaper.
In turn, former governor Juan Carlos Bacileff Ivanoff (Frente Integrador) announced that he will give freedom of action. The other one who could fight is Alfredo “Capi” Rodríguez, who competes with the La Libertad Avanza label. Yes ok Javier Milei did not give him his formal blessing, the libertarian economist was the second most voted presidential candidate in the national PASO. The ballot with the “lion” could help him raise the 2% that he obtained in the primaries.
When asked about a possible victory in the first round, Together for Change prefers caution and emphasizes that they have support on the street. Some surveys place them 6 points higher. But nobody trusts the polls.
On the other hand, in the ruling party, they are also optimistic. They feel that they have grown a lot from PASO to here. “We are confident of winning in the first round,” they say, even to Clarion.
“There are polls, the contact of these weeks and especially of the last few days. We improved in Resistencia and throughout the province. We are waiting for that to happen,” they explain. From the spaces they stated that the first results could be close to 10 at night.
But everyone knows they will go to sleep late. It is a province used to close endings. When Capitanich won the first of his three terms, in 2007, The final difference over the radical Ángel Rozas had been just 0.22%. About 1176 votes. This Sunday, again, every ballot counts.
