Argentina’s security and defense ministers, Patricia Bullrich and Luis Petri, will run as La Libertad Avanza (LLA) candidates in the midterm legislative elections scheduled for October 26.

In the 2023 elections, the pair ran as candidates for president and vice-president as part of the now-defunct coalition Juntos por el Cambio (JxC), coming in third in the first round. After far-right economist Javier Milei was elected in the run-off, they both aligned with him and became prominent members of the cabinet.

In the upcoming vote, 127 of 257 national deputies and 24 of 72 senators will be elected. The deadline for signing up candidates is on Sunday, August 17, at midnight. However, there are two provincial elections before then, first in Corrientes, scheduled for August 31, and  Buenos Aires province, on September 7.

Bullrich to run for senator, Petri for deputy

Bullrich, a hardliner with a Peronist past who belonged to and even presided over right-wing party PRO, will head LLA’s national senators’ ticket for Buenos Aires City. In an X post, she said that she would put her “heart and soul” into “wherever the toughest battles are.”

“After giving everything for the safety of decent Argentinians, for restoring order and enforcing the law,” she wrote, “the next battle is in the Senate.”

In May, Bullrich announced her defection to LLA, after months of public infighting with PRO and former Argentine President Mauricio Macri over the party’s identity. After a sound defeat in the local Buenos Aires City lawmaker elections in May, the remains of PRO were virtually “absorbed” by LLA. For the upcoming midterm elections, both parties will run together in 14 districts, with members of the libertarian party heading most of the ballots.

Petri, a former lawmaker who belonged to the centrist Unión Cívica Radical (UCR), will head the LLA national deputies’ ticket for Mendoza province. In that district, the alliance between PRO and LLA also includes the UCR.

Petri’s candidacy was announced by Mendoza Governor Alfredo Cornejo, who has long supported Milei. He shared a photo of himself attentively looking over Petri while the minister signed his candidacy.

“I am convinced that he will carry out this task with the responsibility and professionalism that characterize him,” Cornejo said, “contributing to promoting the changes that Argentina needs.”

Shortly after the announcement, Karina Milei, the president’s sister and secretary general of the presidency, posted on X that, just like Bullrich before him, Petri had effectively jumped ship from the UCR and is now an official member of LLA. “Thank you, Luis, for joining us in the enormous task of bringing the ideas of freedom to every corner of Argentina,” she wrote.

The national administration has yet to announce who will replace Bullrich and Petri in their current roles, if they win their elections.