The current mayor of General Roca and Peronist candidate, María Emilia Soria, was re-elected this Sunday with a wide margin of votes and received congratulations from leaders of the Frente de Todos, including President Alberto Fernández.
The president sent his greetings to Soria through Twitter, where he also highlighted “the confidence of citizens in Peronism to govern in challenging times”.
Congratulations @MaEmiliaSoria for this great triumph in our beloved General Roca! This result is recognition of your enormous work and the confidence of citizens in Peronism to govern in challenging times. pic.twitter.com/FYtnQvj2A6
– Alberto Fernandez (@alferdez) March 12, 2023
In the first general election in the country, around 70% of the 84,496 qualified voters went to the polls to fulfill their civic duty in 33 schools and 245 tables in the city of Río Negro.
With more than 90% of the tables counted, Soria (Pasión por Roca) took 59.2% of the votes, according to provisional data from the official website of the local electoral court.
“Congratulations María Emilia Soria for this great triumph in our beloved General Roca! This result is a recognition of your enormous work and the confidence of citizens in Peronism to govern in challenging times“Wrote Alberto Fernández on his Twitter account.
The president assured that Soria “is an emerging Peronism that we must build. Democratic and supportive. Open, without sectarianism, to favor the construction of popular fronts that serve the most needy.”
And he also sent his congratulations “to those who turned out to vote, ratifying their faith in our democracy, and to all the political forces that participated and that now we hope will generously accompany the popular will.”
@MaEmiliaSoria It is an emerging Peronism that we must build. Democratic and supportive. Open, without sectarianism, to favor the construction of popular fronts that attend to those most in need. pic.twitter.com/zYdunmWrpr
– Alberto Fernandez (@alferdez) March 12, 2023
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero celebrated Soria’s triumph and pointed out that “Peronism showed that it continues to interpret the dreams of the neighbors.”
The city of General Roca again elected @MaEmiliaSoria as Mayor.
In the country’s first general election in 2023, Peronism demonstrated that it continues to interpret the dreams of its residents from Roca. Congratulations mate!
– Santiago Cafiero (@SantiagoCafiero) March 13, 2023
Along the same lines, the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Martín Soria, congratulated his sister María Emilia and stated that “lMen and women from Rock continue to choose the model where work and passion go hand in hand”.
Congratulations dear Maria Emilia! The Roquenses continue to choose the model where work and passion go hand in hand.
We continue walking the path that the Gringo marked out for us. we continue #In action ↗️↗️ pic.twitter.com/26GJoGITW9
– Martin Soria (@MartinSoria_) March 13, 2023
The Chief of Staff, Agustín Rossi, sent his congratulations “for this enormous popular recognition” and expressed “great joy” for the Peronist triumph.
Congratulations @MaEmiliaSoria for this enormous popular recognition.
Hugs for you and for the compañeros and compañeras of General Roca. Great joy.
— Agustín Rossi (@RossiAgustinOk) March 13, 2023
The head of the Social Development portfolio, Victoria Tolosa Paz, joined the greetings via Twitter: “I am sure that you will continue to build a General Roca for everyone! I hug you and your entire team for lifting up high the flags of Peronism”.
For her part, the community chief María Emilia Soria ratified the victory: “With this victory, the triumph of Gringo Soria remains valid”he assured in reference to his father, former mayor for two terms in that city and elected governor in 2011.
In second place was the candidate for Orgullo Roquense, Carlos Banacloy, who presented himself along with five collecting lists that had him as mayor and reached about 22%.
Banacloy had the support of the ballots of the UCR, the Popular Patagonian Movement, the Democratic Opening Movement, Redes and Nuevo Encuentro.
Meanwhile, Gastón Soto, from “Cambia General Roca”, was third with less than 10% and a councilor from the “PRO” space could enter for the first time in the history of the Deliberative Council.
The candidate of Frente Somos Unidad Popular y Social, Mario Álvarez, received approximately 4% of the vote.
With these results, the local deliberative Council would be made up of six councilors from Pasión por Roca, one from Orgullo Roquense and another from Cambia Roca.
The three seats on the municipal Court of Accounts will be filled by the candidates on the winning list.
Carlos Banacloy publicly recognized the triumph that mayor María Emilia Soria obtained this Sunday and justified her defeat in the context of the polarization that exists in local politics.
“We knew that we were undergoing a test, I think there is a submission of what anti-politics means, there is a fed up,” he said.
And he added: “It is important to analyze how we have approached the work in this town in recent years, I think we have to have a different strategy with the provincial government.”
He also said that “we must read what is happening at the national level, I think there is a very large polarization, where the provincial project of Juntos Somos Río Negro is subjected.”
“The municipal strategy of permanently subduing the crack, the neighbor, was intelligent,” concluded Banacloy.