Alberto Fernandez elected president of Argentina
Amid high turnout, voters in Argentina denied incumbent President Mauricio Macri a second term, electing opposition candidate Alberto Fernández.
Some 34 million Argentines age 16 and over were registered to vote. Polls closed at 6 p.m. local time, and turnout was reportedly over 81%.
Early results show Fernández, a law professor running on the center-left 'Front for Everyone' with former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (no relation), ahead of Macri's right-wing 'Together for Change' by nearly 7%.
As of 9:30 p.m. local time, with 81% of precincts in, Fernández garnered 47.5% of the vote; Macri, 41%; and centrist candidate Roberto Lavagna's 'Federal Consensus' at 6.2%.
The Front for Everyone also wrested Buenos Aires Province - home to 3 out of 8 Argentines - from a close Macri ally, Governor María Eugenia Vidal, who lost to economist Axel Kicillof by 14%.
Surprise choice
Fernández, 60, served as chief of staff to the late populist President Néstor Kirchner, whose 2003-07 term is widely credited with raising Argentina from its 2001-02 collapse and default.
He and Cristina Kirchner were adversaries during most of her 2007-15 tenure - but have become close allies since 2017.
Now a senator, Mrs. Kirchner, 66, had been widely expected to run for president this year - but surprised many by announcing on May 18 that she would instead be Fernández's running mate.
Macrisis
Macri, 60, was narrowly elected in late 2015 on promises to slow inflation and spark sluggish growth with deregulation and tax cuts.
His tenure was instead marked by massive utility hikes, a financial crisis and a record IMF bailout, massive inflation, and the deepest recession in two decades.
Over the last 18 months GDP is down 6.7%, the peso has lost 70% of its value, inflation has doubled to 54%, and unemployment has risen to 10.6% - the highest in 14 years.
The pragmatic Fernández inherits a virtually bankrupt country - whose IMF debt alone ($45 billion) exceeds its central bank reserves ($43 billion), and with $150 billion in debt payments due over the next four years.
A partial default declared in August included the the first ever default on debts in Argentina's own currency.
"The days of 'Us' and 'Them' are over," Fernández said after voting today.
"We are in an enormous crisis. Everyone has to take responsibility for what's ahead."
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Argentine opposition candidate Alberto Fernández shows his ballot stub after voting in today's general elections.
The pragmatic Fernández, 60, inherits a debt crisis and a near-depression from his neo-con predecessor, Mauricio Macri.
Economic stimulus and debt renegotiation will top next year's agenda, along with the need to navigate an openly hostile Bolsonaro regime in neighboring Brazil (Argentina's closest partner) and an uncertain relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump's support for Macri, a longtime friend, included forcing the IMF to lend Argentina a record $45 billion - a debt most analysts consider unpayable without a rescheduling.
