Virginia Cornejo
National Deputy
Assumed office
10 December 2019
ConstituencySalta
Provincial Deputy of Salta
In office
10 December 2005 – 10 December 2013
ConstituencyCapital Department
Personal details
Born (1951-10-18) 18 October 1951 (age 72)
Salta, Argentina
Political partySalta Renewal Party (formerly)
Salta Proposal Party (2010–2015)
Republican Proposal (2015–present)
Other political
affiliations		Juntos por el Cambio (2015–present)
Alma materUniversidad Católica de Salta

Virginia María Cornejo (born 18 October 1951) is an Argentine politician, currently serving as National Deputy elected in Salta Province. A member of Republican Proposal (PRO), Cornejo was elected in 2019, and currently sits in the Juntos por el Cambio parliamentary inter-bloc. She previously served as a member of the Salta Province Chamber of Deputies from 2005 to 2013, and as a city councillor in her hometown of Salta from 2015 to 2019.

Early life and education

Cornejo was born on 18 October 1951 in Salta, capital of the homonymous Salta Province. She studied to be a certified tourist guide in her province at the Universidad Católica de Salta (UCASAL), later acquiring a degree on tourism from the Instituto Superior Perito Moreno, and a technician's degree on marketing from UCASAL.[1]

Early political career and provincial deputy

Cornejo's political career began in 1970, when she was appointed head of the tourism department of the Casa de Salta, the province's "cultural embassy" in Buenos Aires. She held the post until the following year. In 1993, Cornejo was designated director of social action in the Municipality of the City of Salta.

In the 2003 legislative elections, Cornejo ran for a seat in the National Chamber of Deputies in the Salta Renewal Party (PRS) list, behind Carlos Sosa. The PRS received 23.19% of the vote and came second, behind the Front for Victory, securing enough votes for only Sosa to be elected.[2]

Provincial deputy

In 2005, Cornejo ran for a seat in the Chamber of Deputies of Salta in the PRS list in the Capital Department, and won.[3] In 2007, she split from the PRS and instead joined the Salta Proposal Party (PPS), citing differences with the PRS's leadership which had established an alliance with the governing Front for Victory.[4] That year, she ran for one of Salta's three seats in the National Senate as the second candidate in the PPS list, behind Luis García Salado. The PPS received only 2.87% of the vote, and none of its candidates were elected.[5] In 2009, Cornejo ran for re-election as part of the Social and Civic Agreement list, of which the PPS formed part. With 10.08% of the vote, the list received enough votes for Cornejo to secure another term as a member of the provincial legislature.[6]

As a member of the provincial Chamber of Deputies, Cornejo stood in opposition to the governing Justicialist Party and its majority in the chamber. She sought to audit the provincial government in cases of alleged mismanagement of public funds and did a number of public accusations against provincial officials.[4] In 2010, Cornejo was elected president of the Salta Proposal Party.[7]

2011, 2013 and 2015 candidacies

Cornejo would run for a seat in the National Congress again in 2011 (as part of the Union for Social Development, in the Chamber of Deputies list) and 2013 (as part of the Union for the Republic, in the Senate list). Both times, the lists in which she ran did not receive enough votes for her to be elected.[8] In the 2013 election, her Union for the Republic list had such poor results in the PASO primaries that it did not participate in the general election.[9]

In 2013, she also sought a third term as a member of the provincial Chamber of Deputies, as part of the PPS list. She won in the PPS primaries, but did not receive enough votes in the general election to secure re-election.[10]

In the 2015 local elections in the City of Salta, Cornejo ran for a seat in the city council as part of the Republican Proposal list. With 29,349 votes in the general election, the list received enough votes for Cornejo to be elected to a two-year term in the Council.[11] She formed part of the council's general legislation, treasury, budget and accountings, and social action and scholarships commissions.[3]

National deputy

At the 2019 general election, Cornejo was the second candidate in the Juntos por el Cambio list to the National Chamber of Deputies, behind Miguel Nanni; the list received 35% of the popular vote, coming second and securing both Nanni and Cornejo seats in the lower house of Congress.[12] She was sworn in on 4 December 2019.[13]

As a national deputy, Cornejo formed part of the parliamentary commissions on Natural Resources and Conservation, Prevision and Social Security, Small and Medium-sized Businesses, Mining, Disabilities, Sports, and Tourism, the last of which she co-chaired as second vice-president.[1] She was an opponent of the legalisation of abortion in Argentina, voting against the 2020 Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy bill that passed the Argentine Congress.[14]

Personal life

Cornejo is married to Armando Isasmendi and has four children.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Virginia María Cornejo". Directorio Legislativo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 23 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Elecciones 2003". argentina.gob.ar (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Cornejo, Virginia". Concejo Deliberante de Salta (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 24 August 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Carta de la diputada provincial Virginia Cornejo a los electores salteños". Noticias Iruya (in Spanish). 23 September 2009. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  5. ^ "García Salado, candidato a senador nacional por el Partido Propuesta Salteña". Noticias Iruya (in Spanish). 8 September 2007. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  6. ^ "De la mano de Urtubey, el justicialismo ganó en Salta por escaso margen". La Capital (in Spanish). 28 September 2009. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  7. ^ "Con apoyos y críticas las mujeres de la política salteña se refirieron al nuevo cupo femenino". La Gaceta (in Spanish). 24 October 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  8. ^ "Diputados Nacionales 2011". Recorriendo Elecciones (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  9. ^ "El que no salta abandonó…". Cuarto Poder (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  10. ^ "Resultados 2013". Electoral Salta (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  11. ^ ""El político está para servir al otro y no para servirse de la política"". Salta entre Líneas (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  12. ^ "El nuevo Congreso". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  13. ^ "Una diputada juró por el Che, Evita y el aborto" (in Spanish). 4 December 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  14. ^ "Virginia Cornejo sobre la legalización del aborto: «Es un proyecto muy incompleto que no cuida a la madre»". Salta4400 (in Spanish). 12 December 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2021.

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