Karina Milei doesn't want token candidates, but she allows for promotions and changes in government.

To confront Peronism, which chose the opposite path in several municipalities , or the PRO, which did the same in the City, so as not to offend the sector of the electorate that disapproves or out of conviction, Karina Milei gave the order behind closed doors at La Libertad Avanza not to allow "token" candidates .

" She was decisive ," recalled a leader who participated in the closing of the lists in which Javier Milei's sister swept aside all the candidates from Santiago Caputo's group - the Forces of Heaven - over the directive of the Secretary General of the Presidency, which arrived days after the possibility was spread that several of the candidates would not ultimately assume the seats for which they were nominated.

The decision will impact the fate of two key figures in the fledgling LLA alliance , which includes the Milei party and the PRO. These are the two mayors from the right-wing coalition who will be running for office: Diego Valenzuela , from Tres de Febrero; and Guillermo Montenegro , from General Pueyrredón.

Valenzuela is running as the first candidate for senator in the First Section, in the northwest of the GBA, which since 2025 has been the most populous in the conurbation , even above the Third, the Peronist stronghold, in the southern zone.

The first mayor to jump from PRO to LLA wants to position himself as a possible candidate for governor in 2027, a position for which many candidates within LLA are applying; from José Luis Espert to Diego Santilli, as well as Sebastián Pareja himself , president of LLA in the district.

Valenzuela privately reiterates to everyone that his candidacy will not be a mere token. " I'm not doing this to return to the municipality ," he warned his collaborators about the ploy chosen by several PJ mayors in 2021 and now again.

A man of his utmost confidence will remain at the head of the municipal government. This is Rodrigo Aybar , the first candidate for councilor in 2023. The legislator had two fleeting stints in Javier Milei's administration, even before Valenzuela formally joined LLA. Aybar held the position of Undersecretary of Innovation for the Solidarity Economy in the Ministry of Human Capital. He quickly left to land in the Housing Secretariat , which Luis Caputo eliminated in December 2024 .

Valenzuela's wife and political partner, Daniela Reich , was unable to renew her seat as a senator from Buenos Aires Province and could instead take a position as a national deputy or a position in the Executive Branch.

As with every rule, the LLA "boss" allowed exceptions . Candidates holding other positions will be required to leave their posts, but they may not take office if they are offered a superior position .

That could be the case for Mar del Plata native Montenegro, the first candidate for senator for the Fifth Section , who has been rumored since 2024 to occupy a Cabinet seat . The mayor will give up his place to Agustín Neme , his alter ego in the local deliberative council—who had already replaced him in a previous leave request—and maintains a good relationship with the Libertarians. Until now, the mayor was mentioned as a possible replacement for Mariano Cúneo Libarona at the Ministry of Justice .

With Patricia Bullrich's likely candidacy for senator for the city, the door is also open for her to take over the Ministry of Security , the portfolio Mauricio Macri had promised her before 2015, only to lose at the hands of the minister himself. Those close to Montenegro dismiss any speculation in that regard. " Guillermo always said he wouldn't be a token candidate . All we want is to get Kirchnerism out of its last refuge and to have more tools in the Legislature in the fight against insecurity," they maintain.

Bullrich intends to appoint someone she trusts, such as her deputy, Alejandra Monteoliva , a well-known name in the field but with little political clout. Other key players are also in the running: Ritondo, Santilli—two with experience in the field—and SIDE's number two, Diego Kravetz .

After not being given prominent places on the lists even in Quilmes, the district he intends to govern, the Secretary of Worship, Nahuel Sotelo , of the Forces of Heaven, should resign if he is not offered a higher prize.

The rest of the Buenos Aires lists feature almost no relevant officials, but there are numerous section heads from PAMI and ANSES . Juan Osaba , first in the Eighth and very close to Pareja, is the director of Municipal Development Assistance, in the Cabinet office. The bullrichista Juan Pablo Allan —candidate for councilman in La Plata— should resign from ANMaC , as long as the Karinist precept is respected.

Gonzalo Cabezas , who heads the Fourth Section, is director of the Undersecretariat of Municipalities in the Cabinet Office. Alejandro Speroni , head of the Seventh Section, is Undersecretary of Legal Affairs in the Ministry of Economy. Francisco Adorni , the third candidate for the Eighth Section, should resign from the IAF, the Armed Forces' pension fund.

His brother, the presidential spokesman, will assume his seat as a Buenos Aires legislator , but will resign to quickly return to the Executive Branch with a better position than the one he currently holds.

His name is already being floated as a possible replacement for Chief of Staff Guillermo Francos , a possible candidate in October, although the coordinating minister's stock has risen in recent days amid the growing internal conflict within the Iron Triangle. One thing is certain—with or without an oath, an option the spokesperson did not privately rule out —if there are no unforeseen events, Adorni will accumulate more power.