Luis Petri

Luis Alfonso Petri (born 1 April 1977) is an Argentine politician who is serving as the country's Minister of Defense since 2023 under president Javier Milei. Previously, from 2013 to 2021, he was a National Deputy elected in Mendoza Province. Prior to serving as a member of the National Congress, he was a member of the Legislature of Mendoza from 2006 to 2013.

Luis Petri
Official portrait, 2024
Minister of Defense
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 December 2023
President	Javier Milei
Preceded by	Jorge Taiana
National Deputy
In office 10 December 2013 – 10 December 2021
Constituency	Mendoza
Provincial Deputy of Mendoza
In office 1 May 2006 – 9 December 2013
Constituency	Section II
Personal details
Born	(1977-04-01) 1 April 1977 (age 47) San Martín, Mendoza, Argentina
Political party	Radical Civic Union (2010–present)
Other political affiliations	Social and Civic Agreement (2009–2011) Juntos por el Cambio (2015–present)
Domestic partner	Cristina Pérez (2021–present)
Children	1
Alma mater	National University of the Littoral

He was Patricia Bullrich's running mate in the 2023 presidential election, running as part of the "Force of Change" list within the Juntos por el Cambio coalition, coming third in the first round.

Early life and education

Petri was born on 1 April 1977 in San Martín, Mendoza. He studied law at the National University of the Littoral (UNL), later working as a private lawyer at his own firm.^[1]

Political career

Petri became involved in politics as a member of the Juventud Radical, the youth wing of the Radical Civic Union (UCR). He was elected vice president of the Mendoza Juventud Radical in 2003, and from 2003 to 2006 he was legislative secretary of the Mendoza Province Senate.^[1]

In the 2005 provincial legislative elections, he ran for a seat in the Chamber of Deputies in Section II as part of the UCR list, and became elected with 33.90% of the vote. He took office on 1 May 2006. He was re-elected to a second term as part of the Federal Civic Front list in the 2009 elections with 51.76% of the vote. During his time in the provincial legislature he specialized in matters of security and law and order, authoring a bill to make crimes with aggravating circumstances non-commutable.^[2]

In the 2013 legislative election, Petri ran for one of Mendoza's seats in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies. He was the third candidate in the UCR list, behind Julio Cobos and Patricia Giménez, and was elected with 47.69% of the vote. He was re-elected in 2017 as part of the Cambiemos coalition.

As a national deputy, Petri formed part of the parliamentary commissions on Internal Security, Addiction Prevention and Drug-trafficking Control, Transport, Communications and Information, Criminal Legislation, Justice, and General Legislation.^[1] He was second vice-president of the Chamber from 2017 to 2019, during the presidency of Emilio Monzó.^[3]

He voted against the legalization of abortion in Argentina twice: in 2018 and 2020.^[4][5]

In 2023, he sought the Juntos por el Cambio nomination to run for Governor of Mendoza, running against former governor and fellow UCR member Alfredo Cornejo. He received 17.4% of the PASO votes against Cornejo's 26.7%.^[6] On 22 June 2023, presidential hopeful Patricia Bullrich of the Republican Proposal party announced Petri would be her running mate in the 2023 presidential election, as part of the "Force of Change" list within the Juntos por el Cambio coalition.^[7]

Personal life

Petri has one child.^[1] Since 2021 he has been in a relationship with journalist and Telefé newscaster Cristina Pérez.^[7]

Electoral history

Executive

Electoral history of Luis Petri

Election	Office	List		Votes			Result	Ref.
				Total	%	P.
2023 PASO	Governor of Mendoza		Cambia Mendoza	166,758	17.4%	3rd[a]	Not elected[b]	[8]
2023 PASO	Vice President of Argentina		Juntos por el Cambio	6,379,023	23.81%	3rd	Not elected

Legislative

Electoral history of Luis Petri

Election	Office	List		#	District	Votes			Result	Ref.
						Total	%	P.
2005	Provincial Deputy		Radical Civic Union	1	Section II	57,678	33.90%	1st[c]	Elected	[9]
2009	Provincial Deputy		Federal Civic Front	1	Section II	105,679	51.76%	1st[c]	Elected	[10]
2013	National Deputy		Radical Civic Union	3	Mendoza Province	487,372	47.69%	1st[c]	Elected	[11]
2017	National Deputy		Cambia Mendoza	2	Mendoza Province	491,012	45.73%	1st[c]	Elected	[12]

1. Out of all candidates in all lists.
2. Lost the coalition's primary.
3. Presented on an electoral list. The data shown represents the share of the vote the entire party/alliance received in that constituency.

References

1. "Luis Alfonso Petri". Directorio Legislativo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 7 September 2021.
2. Winokur, Pablo (23 March 2018). "Luis Petri, el "Diana Conti" que escribe los proyectos que Macri no se anima a presentar". América 24 (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 July 2023.
3. Sánchez Flecha, Robertino (21 June 2023). "Mendocino, abogado y radical: quién es Luis Petri, el dirigente que eligió Patricia Bullrich como su candidato a vicepresidente". Infobae (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 July 2023.
4. Serra, Laura (14 June 2018). "Uno por uno, cómo votó cada diputado el proyecto de legalización del aborto". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 July 2023.
5. Lucena, André (2023-12-04). "Quem é o novo ministro da Defesa da Argentina e como escolha reduz influência da vice de Milei". CartaCapital (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on May 29, 2024. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
6. "Elecciones Mendoza PASO 2023: resultados y quién ganó, minuto a minuto" (in Spanish). 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
7. "La reacción de Cristina Pérez cuando se enteró de que Luis Petri será el compañero de fórmula de Patricia Bullrich". La Nación (in Spanish). 21 June 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
8. "PASO 2023". mendoza.gov.ar (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 July 2023.
9. "Elecciones 2005" (PDF). elecciones.gob.ar (in Spanish). Dirección Nacional Electoral. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 September 2011.
10. "Elecciones 2009" (PDF). elecciones.gob.ar (in Spanish). Dirección Nacional Electoral. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 September 2011.
11. "Elecciones 2013". argentina.gob.ar (in Spanish). Dirección Nacional Electoral. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
12. "Elecciones 2017". argentina.gob.ar (in Spanish). Dirección Nacional Electoral. Retrieved 4 February 2023.

External links

• Luis Petri on Twitter