Milei's party wins Argentina midterm vote in major comeback

Patrick Gillespie and Manuela Tobias, Bloomberg News on Oct 26, 2025

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President Javier Milei’s party won Argentina’s midterm vote Sunday, a result that will give the libertarian leader a stronger foothold in Congress as he seeks to pass major reforms to boost the nation’s beleaguered economy.

Milei’s party, La Libertad Avanza, received 41% of votes nationwide with 92% of ballots counted, according to data published by Interior Minister Guillermo Francos on Sunday. Milei’s party led in most of Argentina’s provinces.

Francos said Milei’s party had won 64 seats of the 127 seats up for election in the lower house of Congress. The results would put his party in a position to get a third of seats in the lower house of Congress, protecting Milei’s vetoes, which opposition lawmakers had overridden in recent months to pass spending bills.

The result came after Milei’s party suffered a landslide defeat to the Peronist opposition in a September local vote in the Buenos Aires province, a result that sparked a selloff of the peso amid investor fears over the president’s standing with voters. The slide led the Trump administration to extend a financial lifeline to Argentina in an effort to help both the currency and the government.

Markets will likely rally Monday as election uncertainty fades and Milei’s party, which currently holds only about 15% of seats, begins turning its attention to the key economic reforms the president has outlined, including tax cuts, looser labor protections and a pension overhaul. Argentina bonds, which gained the most in emerging markets last year, had also been throttled amid the September election loss and US support package.

The peso in the crypto market extended gains after authorities confirmed a strong result for Milei, strengthening to around 1,390 pesos per dollar, according to crypto exchange Lemon.

The result was “a very strong and conclusive performance by Milei’s LLA party,” said Alberto Ramos, managing director and head of Latin America macroeconomic research at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. “This should give his administration a fresh endowment of legitimacy and political capital which if well used should strengthen governability. That also bodes well for the continuation of strong U.S. financial support.”

The main bloc of the Peronist party had only 24.5% of votes Sunday, a much lower level than it garnered in the election last month. Even combined with its local iterations, the Peronist party had about 32% of the vote, according to a vote tally by Clarin newspaper. Fuerza Patria was on the ballot in only 14 of the 24 provinces.

U.S. Support

Milei’s win will also vindicate the extraordinary support U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered Argentina. Just before the election, the U.S. signed a $20 billion currency swap line agreement with Argentina to shore up the beleaguered peso, which is down more than 30% so far this year.

The U.S. also directly purchased pesos in the run-up to the vote, and is coordinating additional financial support from Wall Street banks for Milei’s administration. President Donald Trump met Milei at the White House two weeks ago, and the Argentine has emerged as one of the U.S. leader’s most ardent supporters abroad.

The backing from Washington came on top of Argentina’s $20 billion program with the International Monetary Fund that began in April.

A victory could also help turn the page politically for Milei. The president and his party have faced three corruption scandals this year, while Argentina’s slowing economy and frustration with high unemployment rates helped push Milei’s approval to the lowest level of his term ahead of the vote.

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