As of Sunday evening, Maximiliano Pullaro had won 60.60% of the votes, while the candidate for the Peronista alliance Union por la Patria, Marcelo Lewandowski, obtained 29.25%, with votes counted in 57.14% of the province’s polling centres.

One of the most important agricultural districts in Argentina, Santa Fe is home to the Rosario agricultural port complex, from which more than 80% of the country’s agricultural shipments are exported.

The provincial elections were held in the midst of a major economic crisis, with annual inflation accelerating to almost 115%. The landslide victory for the opposition alliance comes six weeks before Argentina’s presidential elections on Oct 22, when the ruling centre-left Peronist party will seek to retain power with current economy minister Sergio Massa as its candidate.

The latest national polls show an advantage for the libertarian economist Javier Milei, followed by Massa and the Juntos por el Cambio candidate, Patricia Bullrich.