In more ways than one, Argentina’s October 25 elections represented a watershed moment in the country’s political history. After twelve years of a populist, center-left government, Argentine politics are on the brink of turning right. Even if Peronist Daniel Scioli beats out conservative businessman and Cambiemos coalition candidate Mauricio Macri in today’s presidential runoff election, the landscape of Argentine political life is likely to be changed for the foreseeable future.

Last month’s elections confirmed that there is now a strong center-right party in Argentina. The leadership of that party is decidedly porteño in origin, unapologetically pro-market in its ideological orientation, and led by members of the country’s economic elite. What’s more, Macri’s Cambiemos coalition has shown that it has the ability to win votes among the poor on its own.

The elections were not good for Peronism. Scioli raked in the lowest share for the party since 1983 (37 percent), while the Cambiemos coalition surprised everyone, obtaining 34 percent of the national vote. The election in the province of Buenos Aires, which contains 38 percent of all Argentine voters, included even greater losses for Peronist candidates.