Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Wins Re-election by a Landslide
On October 23, 2011, Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was re-elected by one of the widest margins in the country’s history. Sra. de Kirchner obtained fifty-four percent of the votes while her challenger, socialist Hermes Binner, acquired just seventeen percent. The provincial elections also confirmed the victory of Kirchner’s Peronist coalition; seven of eight governors were elected from the ranks of the ruling Frente para la Victoria.
Ultimately, the opposition had hobbled itself by failing to unite behind a single candidate. Rivals like Eduardo Duhalde, a dissident Peronist, and Ricardo Alfonsín, member of the Radical Civil Union, divided the anti-Kirchner vote. The most likely successful candidate would have been Mauricio Macri, leader of the center-right, had he not declined to run. Macri is probably working up to the 2015 election, for which Kirchner will no longer be able to run due to constitutional rules that do not permit a president to exceed more than two consecutive terms.
This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Sara Bruziches.
To read the full analysis, click here.
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