MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

City of Buenos Aires has new Mayor-elect: another Macri

Jorge Macri will thus succeed Horacio Rodríguez Larreta on Dec. 10

Former Argentine President Mauricio Macri's cousin Jorge will become the next Mayor of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires after Leandro Santoro of Economy Minister and presidential hopeful Sergio Massa's Unión por la Patria (UP) announced he would not be taking part in the runoff for which he had qualified last Sunday.

“It would be foolish to force a runoff”, said UP in a statement after Santoro finished second on Sunday with 32.2% of the vote behind Macri's Juntos por el Cambio (JxC), who got 49.61% and nearly reached the 50% threshold. Santoro said he would rather focus now on Massa's Casa Rosada bid.

Santoro's is “a gesture that I value and respect,” said Jorge Macri. He added that his rival during the campaign was someone “who had a great commitment” and “acted with loyalty.”

“I am pleased with this decision that avoids holding a new election in the City when the results had already expressed the majority opinion of the porteños”, he added while thanking the porteños who “trusted” him.

Massa too highlighted Santoro's decision and admitted he would be included in his administration if he beats Libertarian Congressman Javier Milei on Nov. 19. The Economy Minister insisted it was an “unnecessary” expense to go to a runoff in the City of Buenos Aires against Jorge Macri and underline Santoro had been “very brave and sensible.”

“It was unnecessary to put the City in an electoral expense of such magnitude with an election that was already defined,” Massa argued.

Jorge Macri will thus succeed Horacio Rodríguez Larreta and extend JxC's rule in the Argentine capital dating back to Mauricio Macri's first term, which started Dec. 10, 2007.