Buenos Aires city election candidates: who is who?

The candidates for the Buenos Aires city elections on May 18 are now official. Saturday night was the deadline for parties and coalitions to present their lists for the BA city election, nine days after confirming the coalitions that will participate in the election. Manuel Adorni, Leandro Santoro, Silvia Lospennato and Horacio Rodríguez Larreta lead the main tickets, in what is set to be an atomized election.

None of the main contenders — Peronism, Buenos Aires ruling party PRO, and President Javier Milei’s La Libertad Avanza — achieved party unity, which means their voters will have to choose between different candidates within their political spectrums. Thirty seats, half of the city’s legislature, will be renewed in this election, which will be held several months ahead of the October 26 national mid-terms . The main tickets are as follows.



PRO – “Buenos Aires Primero” This election will be key for right-wing PRO, which has been ruling Buenos Aires for the past 18 years and currently control almost half the legislature seats that are going to be up for election. PRO will run under the coalition “Buenos Aires Primero.” While PRO is a main ally of ruling party La Libertad Avanza (LLA) at a national level, they have confirmed they will not run together in the city elections and will actually compete with each other.

Now a moderate right-wing choice compared to LLA, this election will be a test of PRO’s dominion in what has been a strong-hold for almost two decades. Deputy Silvia Lospennato, a leading PRO voice in Congress with vast legislative experience, will lead PRO’s ballot. While she defends her party’s most right-wing initiatives and has led negotiations with LLA for over a year, she has also been a key advocate on gender issues, including the legalization of abortion in 2020.

The candidates behind Lospennato are city officials — Economic Development Minister and PRO veteran Hernán Lombardi and BA government spokesperson Laura Alonso. The list includes current city lawmaker Darío Nieto, one of Mauricio Macri’s closest collaborators; PRO Youth leader Rocío Figueroa and Waldo Wolff, a hardliner and the city’s Security Minister until early March. #EquipoPRO 💛 pic.

twitter.com/FgBI1H6gHT La Libertad Avanza While negotiating an alliance with PRO in the Buenos Aires province, the ruling party decided to set foot in the Argentine capital and run with its own candidate. Last Friday, LLA announced presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni as a candidate for city legislature.

The announcement came in the form of a post on X from the party with a picture showing Adorni standing in front of a chainsaw, between President Javier Milei and his sister and political operator, Presidential Secretary Karina Milei. The list also includes Banco Nación director Solana Pelayo and Agency for the Administration of State Assets head Nicolás Pakgojz. La Ciudad tiene candidato.

Felicitaciones, @madorni , por ser parte del cambio profundo y de raíz que necesitan los porteños. Vamos a pasar la motosierra por la ciudad. La Libertad Avanza.

pic.twitter.com/gfkhikQgS2 Peronism – “Es Ahora Buenos Aires” Dropping the name Unión por la Patria that they have used at a national level since 2023, Peronism will run with deputy Leandro Santoro in the lead.

Santoro, whose political career began in Unión Cívica Radical (UCR), has already led previous legislative campaigns in the city and came in second in the BA mayor elections in 2023. Santoro’s list includes Claudia Negri, vice dean of the Medicine Faculty of the University of Buenos Aires, and Federico Mochi, head of the University Peronist Youth. Les quiero compartir quiénes me van a acompañar en este nuevo espacio que construimos para defender la Ciudad.

Es Ahora Buenos Aires. (Abro hilo) Horacio Rodríguez Larreta – “Volvamos Buenos Aires” Former mayor Larreta announced days ago he would return to politics after losing the 2023 primaries against current Security Minister and ex PRO leader Patricia Bullrich. His announcement was a list of his reasons to run for city lawmaker, which included the fact that Buenos Aires “smells like piss” under current Mayor Jorge Macri.

Larreta’s ticket includes senator Guadalupe Tagliaferri and city lawmaker Emmanuel Ferrario, both members of PRO. Their presence is an expression of the infighting within the party which has been torn between Mauricio Macri’s leadership and the influence of LLA’s predominance in the political right wing. Volvamos Buenos Aires Ya me conocés.

Soy Larreta. Me llena de entusiasmo volver con una lista de personas valiosas y comprometidas con la ciudad que nos merecemos. Hoy les presento a la candidata número dos y al candidato número tres.

Dos grandes amigos, a quienes quiero y...

pic.twitter.com/GbWt3Iq1Qx Other lists While Peronism was initially expected to run in unity, another Peronist ticket was submitted at the last minute led by Juan Manuel Abal Medina, a political scientist and former chief of staff during Cristina Kirchner’s presidency.

The second spot on his list will be actress Carolina Papaleo, who is debuting in politics. Dissident right-wing Peronist Guillermo Moreno will also have his own ballot. His ticket will be led by the former vice president of the Korean Businesspersons Chamber in Argentina, Alejandro Kim.

UCR will run separately from PRO for the first time since 2015 with public university activist Lucille Levy leading the ticket for a coalition called Evolución . Coalición Cívica (CC), another former PRO-ally, has deputy Paula Oliveto at the top of the list. UCR, PRO and CC used to make up the Juntos por el Cambio coalition, through which Mauricio Macri was elected president in 2015.

Former La Libertad Avanza member Ramiro Marra, who was publically expelled from the party earlier this year by Karina Milei, will lead the ticket of the long-standing, right-wing Unión de Centro Democrático (UCEDE). Deputy Oscar Zago, a former head of LLA’s bloc in Congress and the leader of the Movimiento de Integración y Desarrollo (MID), made a surprise move by submitting a list led by outspoken football coach and commentator Ricardo Caruso Lombardi. Quiero contarles que nuestro candidato a primer legislador en la Ciudad será Ricardo Caruso Lombardi ( @LombaCaruso ).

pic.twitter.com/jtvojI2hoJ.