With more than 50,000 votes in favor, Passerini was elected mayor

67

With a forceful, unquestionable result, Daniel Passerini was elected mayor of the city of Córdoba -the eighth since the return of democracy-, the highest step of his extensive political career.

The lower turnout had a direct impact on the vote harvest at the polls: it totaled 312,812, compared to the 262,254 achieved by Rodrigo de Loredo, who arrived on election day as the favorite in the polls.

The difference was 50,558 votes (all data with 99.67% of polling stations). In points, Passerini reached 47.71% of the votes and De Loredo, 40%, an advantage of 7.7 points. In the final scrutiny, the difference may be somewhat higher and the percentage of Hacemos Unidos may grow above 48 points.

To put the triumph of the ruling party into perspective: in 2019, Llaryora-Passerini achieved 40.2% of the votes, which implies a clear ratification of the management. Also to compare with that election to the opposition: De Loredo himself and Luis Juez added, in separate lists, 287 thousand votes, 25 thousand more than those achieved by Together for Change this Sunday.

Passerini’s campaign, in fact, had as its axis the continuity of the model and the plebiscite component of the election. Four years ago, Hacemos por Córdoba achieved 281,366 votes, 31,500 less than those it added last night.

Passerini achieved indisputable differences in sections 10, 11, 12 and 13, the same territories that on June 25 brought Martín Llaryora to the governorship (see page 15).

On the other hand, De Loredo failed to broaden his electoral base in the traditional circuits of Together for Change, nor did he reduce differences in the circuits prone to vote for Peronism, as was the plan drawn up in the campaign led by Juan Negri.

With this result, Martín Llaryora can launch his political leadership: now there are no doubts that the llaryorismo reached the pinnacle of provincial power. Last night, at the celebration of the ruling party, Juan Schiaretti described his successor as the “central architect” of Passerini’s triumph. After last night, Peronism -particularly the one from the capital- recognizes the next president as a general’s horsemen, obtained after having commanded this campaign, in which he ran from behind.

Peronism returns to sit in the 6 de Julio Palace a leader forged in the interior of the province: Passerini was mayor of Cruz Alta, from where he disembarked as minister of José Manuel de la Sota to become head of Juan Schiaretti’s legislative bloc and finally stay with Llaryora’s candidacy for vice mayor, despite the fact that he preferred Olga Riutort.

Within this framework, the new society led by Peronism in Cordoba will make its debut in 140 days, when they take command of the Civic Center and the 6 de Julio Palace and the cycle of power will restart. Llaryora promised to give “both hands” to Passerini, who will not be able to aspire to re-election in 2027. It is not a passing fact: politics will have to be reordered around the limit that the next mayor will have.

A peronist carnival

The electoral result, unexpected even for Llaryora and Passerini, triggered the celebration that the governor-elect could not have during the long night of June 25 (see page 7). Faced with his militants, Llaryora drew a dividing line in the opposition when he called for “loud applause” for those who “worthyly acknowledged defeat.” A few minutes later, Schiaretti would give him his first and last name: Rodrigo de Loredo. It’s not republicanism, it’s starting to carve out the internal opposition.

Euphoric, shouting, Llaryora debuted his role as governor of the second province when he reproached “the pituquitos of Recoleta” for wanting to play in Cordoba politics. “Anyone governs in the richest district of Argentina”, he shot towards Horario Rodríguez Larreta (and Mauricio Macri); “This is the milestone of change,” he said of Córdoba’s Peronism, in what seemed like a hint to Patricia Bullrich.

Recharged, empowered, he insisted on his “Cordovan party” project, the “new political expression that knocked down all forecasts and polls,” he told the crowd that minutes before he had sung the Peronist March a cappella.

Of Loredo, the defeated

At 9:15 p.m., without official information, Rodrigo de Loredo acknowledged defeat: “The difference is in favor of the other side,” he said surrounded by the national figures of Together for Change, who arrived in Córdoba to participate in the party that was not. Horacio Rodríguez Larreta and Patricia Bullrich, the opposition presidential candidates, stood out, hoping that the Cordovan result would strengthen the national campaign (see page 10).

De Loredo said that “the polls failed” and that “the low participation could have influenced”, two excuses to dribble their own responsibilities and those of their space. 10 minutes later, the radical left the bunker alone, as a campaign focused on his figure went through. A clear example of that solitary strategy was the integration of the list that will enter the Deliberative Council at the end of November.

The reconfiguration of the opposition is unknown, given the anarchy that has reigned in radicalism since last night, with no leaders in sight and with the renewal on standby, and the rearming of the Civic Front. This Sunday, when he went to vote, Luis Juez told the journalists who were waiting for him: “They could be interviewing the governor of Córdoba. Now we have to wait four years