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2000 Buenos Aires City elections

General elections were held in the City of Buenos Aires on 7 May 2000 to elect the Chief of Government (mayor) and entirety of the City Legislature.

In the mayoral election, former prosecutor Aníbal Ibarra, of the Alliance, won in the first round of voting with 49.30% of the vote. According to the city's constitution, a candidate for Chief of Government must achieve over 50% of the vote in order to win in the first round, but the second-most voted candidate, former economy minister Domingo Cavallo, dropped out of the race for the second round and ceded victory to Ibarra.

This was only the second general election in the City of Buenos Aires and the first since the adoption of the 1996 Constitution.

Background

The 1996 elections in Buenos Aires were the first held in the city's history to elect local authorities, following the 1994 amendment of the Constitution of Argentina which granted autonomy to the city and allowed it to vote for its own head of government and legislature. The election resulted saw Radical Civic Union senator Fernando de la Rúa become the city's first democratically-elected mayor and the FREPASO coalition of progressive and left-leaning parties become the largest bloc in the Constitutional Convention, which was tasked with writing and adopting a new Constitution for the newly-autonomous city.[1][2]

Once the new constitution was adopted, legislative elections were held in 1997 to elect the city's first legislature. The newly formed Alliance between the Radical Civic Union and FREPASO won in a landslide with 56.03% of the votes, taking 37 out of 60 seats, while the Justicialist Party and Action for the Republic trailed behind and won 11 seats each.[3]

In 1999, De la Rúa ran and won the country's presidential election, taking office on 10 December 1999. Deputy Chief of Government Enrique Olivera was then sworn in as the city's second Chief of Government.[4] Ahead of the 2000 election, Olivera declined to run for re-election and instead the Alliance's candidate was elected in an internal primary. The winner of said primary was former prosecutor and deputy Aníbal Ibarra, of the Broad Front.[5]

Candidates

Coalition Mayoral candidate (party)
Prior political experience 		Vice mayoral candidate (party)
Prior political experience 		Parties
Aníbal Ibarra (FG)
City Legislator (1997–2000) 		Cecilia Felgueras (UCR)
Secretary of Social Development (1999–2000)
Domingo Cavallo (AR)
Minister of Economy (1991–1996) 		Gustavo Béliz (ND)
City Legislator (1997–2000)
Irma Roy (PAIS)
National Deputy (1987–1999) 		José Castiñeira de Dios (PAIS)
  • PAIS
Patricia Walsh (MST) Herman Schiller (Ind.)
Antonio Cartañá (Ind.)
Ombudsman of Buenos Aires (1988–1993) 		Jorge Selser (PSA)

Results

Chief of Government

CandidateRunning matePartyVotes%
Aníbal IbarraCecilia FelguerasAlliance884,88349.42
Domingo CavalloGustavo BélizEncounter for the City595,77533.28
Irma RoyJosé Castiñeira de DiosOpen Policy for Social Integrity82,4824.61
Patricia WalshHerman SchillerUnited Left61,5783.44
Antonio CartañáJorge SelserBuenos Aires for All49,8552.78
Lía MéndezOscar CeveyHumanist Ecologist Party30,8351.72
Raúl Granillo OcampoAníbal JozamiJusticialist Party30,0961.68
Pablo RieznikHugo VillamilWorkers' Unity Front25,9681.45
Susana SacchiGustavo de BiaseSocialist Workers' Party8,4470.47
Laura Enda MarroneJorge Guidobono ReyMovement for Socialism8,1980.46
Manuel Gaggero PérezMarcelo FrondiziFree Fatherland Current5,3210.30
Federico Pinto KramerJuana A. CaparrozWhite Party3,9920.22
Antonio MontenegroMiguel CalveteCitizen Action2,9510.16
Total1,790,381100.00
Valid votes1,790,38196.01
Invalid votes25,4221.36
Blank votes48,8962.62
Total votes1,864,699100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,553,36173.03
Source: [6]

Legislature

Distribution of seats in the City Legislature following the 2000 election:
  Alliance (24)
  Action for the Republic (20)
  Open Policy for Social Integrity (4)
  Union of the Democratic Centre (2)
  Buenos Aires for All (2)
  United Left (2)
  Movement of Pensioners and Youth (2)
  Humanist Party (1)
  Justicialist Party (1)
  Party of the Intermediate Generation (1)
  FUT-PO (1)
PartyVotes%Seats
Alliance652,18236.6724
Encounter for the City548,32430.8320
Open Policy for Social Integrity118,7956.684
United Left78,7464.432
Union of the Democratic Centre74,0614.162
Buenos Aires for All53,0442.982
Movement of Pensioners and Youth53,0232.982
Party of the Intermediate Generation47,4732.671
Humanist Ecologist Party39,5532.221
Justicialist Party37,2592.091
Workers' Unity Front36,4192.051
Socialist Workers' Party10,5910.600
Movement for Socialism9,5310.540
Free Fatherland Current6,1610.350
Constitutional Nationalist Party5,6620.320
White Party4,5490.260
Citizen Action3,3640.190
Total1,778,737100.0060
Valid votes1,778,73795.17
Invalid votes25,1011.34
Blank votes65,1753.49
Total votes1,869,013100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,553,36173.20
Source: [6]

See also

References

  1. ^ Guadalupe, Graciela (1 July 1996). "De la Rúa en toda la Capital". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  2. ^ Landau, Matías (December 2021). "Ser Jefe de Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires: la jerarquización de un cargo político y su impacto en la Argentina reciente" [Being "Jefe de Gobierno" of the City of Buenos Aires: The Empowerment of A Political Post and Its Impact in Recent-Time Argentina]. Pléyade (Santiago) (in Spanish). 28. International Institute for Philosophy and Social Studies. doi:10.4067/S0719-36962021000200140. ISSN 0719-3696.
  3. ^ "El Frepaso, del aluvión de votos en 1997 a su desdibujado presente". Clarín (in Spanish). 7 October 2002. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  4. ^ Calderaro, Romina; Rodríguez, Santiago (10 December 1999). "Con Olivera en la comuna empezó la fiesta aliancista". Página 12 (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  5. ^ "Ibarra ganó la interna y será el candidato de la Alianza en la Capital". Clarín (in Spanish). 28 June 1999. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  6. ^ a b "Elecciones 2000". buenosaires.gob.ar (in Spanish). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 January 2025.