In the cycle driven by Viviana Canosa, Fabián Doman, Jorge Rial and Alejandro Fantino On the Carnaval streaming platform, journalists referred to how Javier Milei was able to come to power through the 2023 presidential campaign with the newly formed coalition Freedom Advances that defeated Peronism led by Sergio Massa. In the dialogue, the communicator maintained that the alleged sales of candidates, by the libertarian movement, influenced the electoral consolidation of the political party led by the economist.
Fantino, for his part, minimized Canosa’s hypothesis of candidacy sales to “50 green lucas” and detailed: “The Massa campaign supported him in the province,” referring to Buenos Aires, the most powerful electoral territory in the country. The former sports journalist affirmed that the then libertarian candidate for the Rivadavia seat “did not have to pay for candidatures” and highlighted: “Javier Milei is president of the Argentine Republic for Sergio Tomás Massa.”
The 2023 presidential campaign in Argentina had an atypical development that reconfigured the political map from the PASO to the runoff, with the decisive emergence of Javier Milei and the subsequent direct confrontation with Massa. The first milestone occurred on August 13, when the La Libertad Avanza candidate became the candidate with the most votes at the national level with just over 30% of the votes, surpassing both Union for the Homeland as Together for Change. “We are the most voted force because we represent the people’s fatigue,” Milei stated that night, in a message that summarized the climate of social discontent with the traditional leadership. From the ruling party, Massa sought to relativize the impact by pointing out that “another election begins,” anticipating a repositioning strategy for October.
After the PASO, the campaign entered a phase of rearrangement where the axis became polarization and the dispute for the useful vote. Massa, already consolidated as the sole candidate of Peronism, deployed a strategy focused on management and warning about the risks of libertarian proposals. “It’s not about jumping into the void,” he said repeatedly, alluding to Milei’s economic program. In parallel, the libertarian leader radicalized his speech against “the political caste” and defended initiatives such as dollarization, ensuring that “inflation is a monetary phenomenon and we are going to end it.” The campaign was also crossed by exchange tensions, short-term economic measures and a climate of uncertainty that directly impacted the electorate.
In the general elections of October 22, the scenario took a significant turn: Massa won with around 36% of the votes, while Milei came in second place with around 30%, forcing a runoff. The result showed a strong recovery of the ruling party, particularly in the province of Buenos Aires, where Peronism achieved a key advantage. However, the election also left Together for Change out of competition, whose internal among Patricia Bullrich and Horacio Rodríguez Larreta had weakened its performance after the consolidated growth of the libertarian candidate. A point that many analysts agree is that there was some support from certain sectors of Justicialism with Milei, related to the Renewal Frontto discard the electoral group commanded by Macrism.
The province of Buenos Aires played a determining role in the entire electoral sequence. In the PASO, Milei had achieved a competitive performance even in the main district of the country, capitalizing on the angry vote in the suburbs. Although in October Massa expanded his advantage in that territory, LLA managed to sustain a significant flow that, added to the subsequent support of sectors of Together for Change, was key for the runoff. Analysts agreed that the growth of Milei in popular sectors of Buenos Aires, traditionally linked to Peronism, marked a break in the historical dynamics of the vote.
The campaign towards the second round, held on November 19, was characterized by extreme polarization. Massa reinforced his message of “national unity” and sought to broaden his base by incorporating moderate sectors, while Milei partially moderated his speech and focused on the need for structural change. “Today we choose between continuing with this model or changing forever,” said the libertarian candidate in the final section. The explicit support of leaders of Together for Change, along with a strong campaign on social networks and the media, consolidated its positioning as the alternative opposition to Peronism.
The final result consecrated Milei with nearly 56% of the votes compared to 44% for Massa, in one of the largest differences recorded in a runoff since the return of democracy. The key was in the ability of La Libertad Avanza to bring together the opposition vote, especially in districts where Together for Change had had weight, and in maintaining a competitive base in the province of Buenos Aires. In this way, the libertarian space managed to consolidate itself as a national force, breaking the bipartisan logic that had dominated Argentine politics in recent decades.
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