Economy minister Sergio Massa defied expectations and finished top in the first round of voting in Argentina’s presidential election on Sunday.

Mr Massa had been tipped to finish behind right-wing populist Javier Milei, who he will face in November’s runoff election.

With 98% of the votes counted, Mr Massa had 36.6% of the vote with his rival on 30% and former security minister Patricia Bullrich, of the main centre-right opposition coalition, third with 23.8%.

Mr Massa, who ran for president eight years ago, has been a leading figure in Alberto Fernandez’s centre-left administration in power since 2019 and oversaw inflation surging into triple digits.

He has campaigned on Mr Milei’s proposal to slash the size of the state and told voters he inherited an already-bad situation exacerbated by a devastating drought that decimated the country’s exports and reassured voters that the worst was past.

Mr Milei, a self-described anarcho-capitalist who admires former US President Donald Trump, amassed a groundswell of support while calling for elimination of the Central Bank, replacement of the local currency with the US dollar, and a purge of the establishment that he called the “political caste.”

His radical proposals and fiery, profanity-laden rhetoric caused some Argentines to vote for Mr Massa, even if less than enthused at the prospect.

Speaking on Sunday night, Mr Massa sent a signal he would seek to appeal to members of other parties for the runoff.

“I’m going to call for a government of national unity — a government of national unity built on the foundation of summoning the best individuals, regardless of their political affiliation,” he said.

Mr Massa focused much of his firepower in the campaign’s final days on warning voters against backing Mr Milei, painting him as a dangerous upstart.

He argued that his rival’s plans could have devastating effects on social welfare programmes, education and health care. The health, education and social development ministries are among those Mr Milei wants to extinguish.

Mr Milei cast himself as a crusader against what he called the sinister forces of socialism at home and abroad.

He opposes sex education, feminist policies and abortion, which is legal in Argentina. He rejects the notion that humans have had a role in causing climate change.

In his speech on Sunday night, Mr Milei appeared to try to appeal to those who may have trembled at his bombastic speeches.

“We didn’t come here to take away rights; we came to take away privileges,” he said.