Buenos Aires, April 27 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Primary elections in Buenos Aires were held on Sunday, as voters chose which parties and candidates will run in local government elections in July.

According to exit polls, Horacio Rodriguez Larreta won the nomination for the right-wing Republican Proposal Party (PRO). Rodriguez Larreta is an economist and cabinet chief for the current city government, headed by opposition leader and presidential hopeful Mauricio Macri.

In the primaries, the PRO received the highest level of support with 47 percent. For the Frente Para la Victoria party (FpV), of current Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez, Mariano Recalde won, with 19 percent of votes. Recalde is the current president of the state-owned airline Aerolineas Argentinas, and formerly led La Campora youth organization, which has been supportive of both Nestor Kirchner’s and Cristina Fernandez's progressive governments.

The Organized Citizen's Energy coalition (ECO) will be headed by candidate Martin Lousteau, who won 22 percent. Lousteau was economy minister during 2007 and 2008, but left Cristina Fernandez's administration to join the opposition. He was elected congressman for the city of Buenos Aires in 2013.

The candidates had to obtain at least a 1.5 percent of the votes cast in the primaries to run in the elections in July. It is the first time that 2.5 million citizens registered to vote in Buenos Aires to choose their candidates in primary elections, with a turnout of 70 percent.

Primary elections were implemented in 2009 after an electoral reform backed by the Argentinian government, which allows any citizen – regardless of party affiliation – to vote for the candidates that will head the lists in local elections.