Mauricio Macri speaks to journalists after casting his vote in Buenos Aires.
Victor R. Caivano/Associated Press
The business-friendly mayor of Argentina’s capital won enough votes in Sunday’s election to trigger the first presidential runoff in the country’s history, dealing a startling setback to the populist ruling party.
The unexpected showing by Mauricio Macri, 56, the center-right mayor of Buenos Aires, took pollsters and the country’s political establishment by surprise. It also assured a runoff election on Nov. 22.
Mr. Scioli, the 58 year-old governor of Buenos Aires Province, had a clear lead heading into the election with polls putting him on the cusp of a first-round win. He needed to get 40% of the vote and be 10 points ahead of Mr. Macri to win. But with almost 97% of the votes counted Monday morning, Mr. Scioli had 36.8% of the vote compared with 34.3% for Mr. Macri.
“This result represents a shock, positioning Mr. Macri within reach of the presidency,” said Ernesto Calvo, a political-science professor at the University of Maryland who has closely tracked the Argentine campaign.
Mr. Scioli, a former world champion powerboat-racer, had campaigned hard to win in the first round over Mr. Macri and a second challenger, Sergio Massa, who served as cabinet chief under President Cristina Kirchner before turning against her.
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