The National Party is seeking candidates to compete in the 2024 presidential elections, with the aim of staying in power and preventing the Broad Front from returning to national government. Possible candidates include Raffo, Álvaro Delgado, Beatriz Argimón and Senator Gandini.
An official announcement is likely to be made before the end of the first half of this year, although President Lacalle Pou would like it to be made later, in the second half of the year. If Delgado is chosen as a candidate, he will resign from his current position. If Beatriz Argimón also decides to compete, it is expected that she will be the whites’ new bet for the capital.
The party leaders face a challenge in finding a candidate who has the necessary ability and willingness to compete and who also has the support of all. Senator Gandini points out that it is important to resolve this as soon as possible, since this year a large part of the energy will be dedicated to the internal elections of 2024. In Raffo’s environment, it is argued that the project for Montevideo should not be designed around to her and that it should be a long-term project. Raffo assures that he will not leave Montevideo aside, since his political capital and electoral wealth reside there.
Is Raffo the favorite?
The coalition lost the municipal elections to the Broad Front and its candidate, Carolina Cosse, but the 39% obtained by Raffo was satisfactory for the ruling party and specifically for the National Party, who decided to build a long-term political project for her with the objective to compete again in 2024 with a candidate with extensive knowledge of Montevideo.
However, this year has been complicated because Raffo’s decision to compete in the nationalist internal elections in June 2024 under the umbrella of Herrerismo is incompatible with a new mayoral candidacy and jeopardizes the objective of avoiding a party candidacy. at the last minute to compete for hegemony in the capital.
Although they pressure her to lead political projects that point in various directions, Raffo herself still does not seem to define whether she wants to be mayor of Montevideo or president of the Republic, and this may be related to why the PN is considering nationally renowned names such as Argimón or Thin.
