Argentine legislative elections, 2009

Argentine legislative election, 2009

← 2007 June 28, 2009 (2009-06-28) 2011 →
127 (of the 257) seats to the Argentine Chamber of Deputies and 24 (of the 72) Argentine Senate
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Néstor Kirchner Elisa Carrió Francisco de Narváez Party FPV-PJ CC-ARI PRO Alliance Civic and Social Agreement Leader since 2008 2007 2009 Leader's seat Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires Buenos Aires Province Last election 129 (C) / 38 (S) 60 (C) / 17 (S) 13 (C) / 0 (S) Seats won 110 (C) / 34 (S) 78 (C) / 23 (S) 32 (C) / 0 (S) Seat change -19 (C) / -4 (S) +18 (C) / +6 (S) +19 (C) / 0 (S) Popular vote 5,891,330 5,549,747 3.391.391 Percentage 30,80% 28,94% 17.70% Swing -12.23% +9.14% +12.30%

Legislative elections were held in Argentina for half the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and a third (24) of the seats in the Senate on 28 June 2009, as well as for the legislature of the City of Buenos Aires and other municipalities.

The elections were due to have been held on 25 October 2009. In March 2009, the Mayor of Buenos Aires, Mauricio Macri, moved to bring forward the date of elections to the Buenos Aires City Legislature to June 28, saying that it would increase transparency and democratic quality. Opposition figures criticised the decision, suggesting Macri was attempting to consolidate his power in the city, and building the career of his deputy, Gabriela Michetti, expected to head the list for Macri's coalition in the election. Similar changes to the election date had been introduced in the provinces of Santa Fe and Catamarca (March 2009).

Despite the criticism by politicians from Government ranks that Macri had abused the process by unilaterally changing the election date, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announced that she too would be introducing legislation to move the date of national elections forward by four months, to June 28. Despite great debate and the defections of some Peronist legislators, the proposal passed its Congressional stages quickly and the date was successfully changed. The Government claimed it would allow politicians to leave behind campaigning priorities and focus on tackling the ongoing local effect of the international financial crisis. Equally controversial was a decision by Front for Victory leader Néstor Kirchner (the current President's husband and predecessor) to advance stand-in candidates - prominent local lawmakers (notably Buenos Aires Province Governor Daniel Scioli, as well as 15 Greater Buenos Aires-area mayors) who, after the election, would be likely to cede their new seats to down-ticket names.

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