Global Courant
In the bunker of Hacemos Córdoba, the force that has governed the province for 24 years and that this Sunday achieved another victory -the seventh in chains- the night started with chills. The first results of the scrutiny that began to be seen on the giant screens indicated that the opposition was on point at the beginning of the count. It seemed that a catastrophe was coming. But as the vote count progressed, the result began to favor the Peronist Martín Llaryora.
After an intense electoral campaign and a tough political fight against Juntos con el Cambio, the ruler Hacemos Unidos -led by the current governor, Juan Schiaretti- won the victory at dawn on Monday, although by a minimal difference and if they had loaded all the data of the scrutiny.
Luis Juez, the candidate for governor of Juntos por el Cambio, did not acknowledge having lost. “When the game ends, the game ends. And the game did not end,” he said, referring to the fact that thousands of votes were still missing. He also announced that he will wait for the final scrutiny.
Luis Juez with Patricia Bullrich and other JxC leaders this morning. Photo The Voice.
The provisional, which advanced slowly this morning, awarded 42.72% of the votes to Llaryora, against 39.79% for Judge, with 91.20% of the tables processed.
In probably the most anti-K province in the country, Kirchnerism fared even worse than expected: the formula made up of Federico Alessandri and Gabriela Estévez, which was presented under the Creo label in Córdoba, obtained 2.18% of the votes and was sixth, behind the Left Front.
Participation was around 68% of the register. Together for Change stayed at dawn this Monday with control of the Legislature, which is renewed entirely. Also with the management of the Court of Accounts.
There were delays in loading some data, which were attributed to problems in scanning the forms. In the Juntos por el Cambio bunker, some tried to sow suspicion.
The scrutiny data began to be loaded shortly after 7:00 p.m. thanks to the fact that in Córdoba people vote with a single paper ballot. In some districts, they even voted with an electronic ballot.
The single paper ticket is a system that, with a good inspection scheme, does not allow cheating. Except for loading the forms, but at least Hacemos Córdoba and Together for Change had a troop of prosecutors more than enough.
Martín Llaryora when voting this Sunday. Photo Marcelo Carroll/Special envoy.
Detail: on Thursday, before the closing ceremony for Llaryora’s campaign began, an important part of those present received an inspection class. The ruling party did not miss anything.
The official bunker, located in the convention center of the Quórum hotel, near the airport of the capital Córdoba, looked impeccable, huge, modern.
Perhaps it lacked some Peronist imprint, more militancy and fewer officials, taking into account that the PJ is the majority force within Hacemos Unidos. Only Argentine flags and others with the mark of the electoral stamp were seen.
claimed trump
There, in the early hours of this Monday, Llaryora claimed victory, although without saying it with all the letters. “Starting in December we are going to work for all Cordovans, for those who voted for us and those who did not vote for us,” he said, assuming that his mandate will start that month.
He also assured that the trend was “irreversible” in favor of the ruling party and that it would end up prevailing by a 3-point difference.
Patricia Bullrich traveled to Córdoba to accompany Judge and then showed up with him in the JvC bunker. She wanted to make it clear that she was in Cordoba territory, key for Juntos, beyond the electoral result. What’s more: she traveled while the election was still taking place.
Patriciia Bullrich, and PRO deputy Laura Rodríguez Machado, followed election announcements on television, in a hotel in Córdoba. Photo Marcelo Carroll.
It was hoped that Llaryora’s eventual triumph would serve current governor Juan Schiaretti -he is also the head of the ruling coalition- as a springboard for his candidacy for president. But the result now opens some unknowns.
The candidacy of the Cordovan bothers Juntos por el Cambio at the national level because it could take away votes, as they admit in the opposition coalition itself.
Llaryora, current mayor of the Cordoba capital, had stung at the start of the campaign and always remained there, according to the polls.
The benefit of a failure
But a few weeks ago there was a novelty that allowed Luis Juez to reduce the advantage; It was when Schiaretti and Horacio Rodríguez Larreta sought an electoral agreement, which ultimately failed due to resistance within Juntos por el Cambio.
The negotiation of that agreement, in which he was left as a victim, ended up favoring him, although perhaps not enough.
One of the keys to the election was the performance of Llaryora in Córdoba, the city of which he is mayor. In this capital he achieved a difference of more than 7 points.
Martín Llaryora celebrates this morning. Photo Marcelo Carrol/Special Envoy.
Almost 40% of the provincial electorate is concentrated in the capital. If Gran Córdoba is added, it reaches 60%, although not everything votes in the same way.
A former radical redoubt -and also of Juez, where he was mayor between 2003 and 2007-, the city seems to have become the new bastion of Juan Schiaretti’s party by dint of works and transformations. And this time Judge did well in the interior of the province. The roles were reversed.
The capital looks modern, with a lot of road signs, bike paths, its New York-style yellow taxis, lighting poles with tall pots of flowering geraniums, and trolleybuses with their almost silent engines.
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