Jorge Obeid

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Jorge Obeid
Jorge Obeid (left) next to President Néstor Kirchner
Governor of Santa Fe
In office 1995 — 1999, 2003 – 2007
Lieutenant(s)	María Eugenia Bielsa
Preceded by	Carlos Reutemann
Succeeded by	incumbent

Born	1947-11-24 Diamante, Entre Ríos
Political party	Justicialist Party
Profession	Chemical engineer

Jorge Alberto Obeid (born 24 November 1947) is an Argentine Justicialist Party (PJ) politician, current governor of Santa Fe Province.

Obeid was born in Diamante, Entre Ríos but moved to Santa Fe to train as a chemical engineer. He was a young Peronist activist but was forced to leave the country during the military government. He became a member of the legislative council of Santa Fe and, as the President of the Council, became the mayor when the incumbent resigned.

Obeid became governor of the province for the first time in 1995, winning an election that was fraught with problems, including a breakdown in the computer system counting the ballots that forced a recount to be done by hand. Obeid was declared the winner after 37 days, after charges of fraud and manipulation. He was backed by outgoing governor Carlos Reutemann and Buenos Aires Province governor Eduardo Duhalde and defeated the candidate of President Carlos Menem. He served until 1999, when former governor Reutemann then served for a second four-year term.

After stepping down as governor, Obeid served in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies from 1999. He was re-elected as governor for a second term in 2003. Under his administration, and following his initiative, the provincial legislature repealed the controversial electoral law called Ley de Lemas, which had allowed Obeid (twice) to win the governorship after obtaining less votes than his closest opponent. Obeid will not run for office again, since the provincial constitution forbids reelection.

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(Spanish) Santa Fe Province

Preceded by Carlos Reutemann	Governor of Santa Fe 1995 - 1999	Succeeded by Carlos Reutemann
Preceded by Carlos Reutemann	Governor of Santa Fe 2003 – present	Incumbent