Argentina votes in local elections that will test President Milei’s support

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - Votes were being cast across Buenos Aires on Sunday in local elections that will test Argentina’s President Javier Milei’s political strength as he seeks to steer mainstream conservatives toward his radical libertarian platform.

The election results could boost Milei's La Libertad Avanza party, or LLA, in crucial national midterms later this year. Some 2.5 million people are eligible to vote in Sunday's election, in which half of the 60 legislative seats are up for grabs.

A former TV pundit known for his angry rants against Argentina’s political class, Milei founded LLA just four years ago, drawing a motley crew of political novices into his anti-establishment agenda.

Seeking to take a "chainsaw" to state spending with just a tiny minority in Congress over his past 1 1/2-year in office - his party holds just 15% of seats in the lower house and 10% in the Senate - Milei has been compelled to compromise with former President Mauricio Macri, the scion of a wealthy family and the face of Argentina’s conservative political establishment.

That uneasy alliance has faltered in recent months. The two have clashed over Milei’s effort to install a judge embroiled in corruption scandals on the Supreme Court, among other things.

In Macri's stronghold of Buenos Aires, where his PRO (Republican Proposal) party has governed uninterrupted since 2007, Milei appears set on crushing his erstwhile partner altogether, analysts say.

"The government needs to claim dominance and the leadership over the whole spectrum of the center-right," said Juan Cruz Díaz, managing director of Buenos Aires-based political consultancy Cefeidas Group.

At his closing campaign rally last week, Milei attacked Macri’s party in an expletive-sprinkled rant. "I'm not going to waste time describing all the inconsistencies of the failed (PRO) party because they're fighting for fourth place," he told supporters.

Wiping out PRO in Buenos Aires would signal a major shift in Argentine politics - one already playing out in the United States, Europe and around the world as increasingly right-wing factions push their way into the mainstream and drown out more moderate voices.

It would also cement Milei’s party as the main alternative to the country’s left-wing populist Peronist faction, which has governed economically troubled Argentina for much of the past two decades.

"If Milei wins in the capital, it will have a very strong symbolic impact," said Orlando D'Adamo, director of the Center for Public Opinion at Buenos Aires' University of Belgrano. "If PRO wins, it would maintain Macri's power as a valuable partner, boost his brand and put him on equal footing with La Libertad Avanza."

Milei has chosen a prominent figure - his spokesperson Manuel Adorni - to head his list of candidates. He put his sister and closest advisor, Karina Milei, on the job as a campaign strategist. Huge banners declaring "Adorni is Milei" blanket the city.

"It has turned into a crucial battle for the political leadership," said Ignacio Labaqui, a senior analyst at research group Medley Global Advisors.

Macri, for his part, has campaigned hard for his top candidate, Silvia Lospennato. In recent appearances, he has criticized Milei for what he sees as a bellicose approach and disregard for traditional Argentine institutions.

"Putting the economy in order is not enough. We must strengthen institutions, be predictable and regain respect for one another," Macri told supporters.

Just two years ago, Macri was key to Milei’s landslide electoral victory. His center-right supplied Milei’s new government with key ministers, brought him a conservative base and helped him secure the support of critical political brokers to help pass his radical agenda through an otherwise hostile Congress.