Claudia Ledesma Abdala

Vice Governor José Neder, President Cristina Kirchner, Governor Claudia Ledesma Abdala, and her husband and predecessor Gerardo Zamora shortly after Ledesma's election in 2013.

Ledesma was born in La Banda. Her father, Oscar Ledesma, was active in local politics as a supporter of Governor Carlos Juárez.[2] She graduated as a lawyer and notary from the Catholic University of Santiago del Estero.[3]

Ledesma entered public service in 2003 when she was elected Citizen Ombudsman for La Banda on the UCR ticket, and in 2005 she was appointed local infractions judge. Ledesma and her first husband, Jorge Amerio, were divorced,[4] and in 2005 she met her future husband, Governor Gerardo Zamora.[2] She was later appointed by her husband as Director of the Provincial Motor Vehicle Registry.[3] The couple had two sons and a daughter.[5]

Governor Zamora nominated his wife for the governor's race held in 2013, while he himself ran for Senator. Both won their respective races on the Civic Front for Santiago ticket, and Ledesma was elected governor with nearly 65% of the vote.[6]

Zamora had presided over an ambitious public works agenda in historically underdeveloped Santiago del Estero, 90% of whose US$1.8 billion budget was financed by the federal government in 2013.[4] Ledesma continued this policy and initiated or inaugurated numerous significant projects as governor. These included among others a new building for the Provincial Legislature;[7] the Juan Felipe Ibarra provincial office building (the first LEED certified government building in Argentina);[8] increases in the educational budget for 1,100 new teachers and 10,000 new desks;[9] and improvements in sewer systems and other public services.[10][11]

Some of the most notable health and social care improvements during her tenure include expansion works in 14 hospitals and a new, 150,000 ft² hospital in La Banda;[12] a driver safety education and enforcement program that led to a 40% reduction in motor vehicle accidents;[12] a new child nutrition program that provides probiotic yogurt to over 47,000 poor children;[13] and housing programs that included public housing,[14] as well as the promotion of both cooperative housing[15] and of self-building programs that financed over 3,000 such homes in 2015.[16]