former President Justo José de Urquiza (whom Mitre attempted to dissuade from running for fear of the separatist conflict his presence might provoke). These candidates were, with the exception of Sarmiento, contentious in many circles and provided the new system its first real test. The electoral college met on April 12, 1868, and selected Sarmiento by 79 out of 131 votes, making this the only closely contested race during this era. 1874 President Sarmiento's pragmatic approach to Buenos Aires demands and his successful control of separatist revolts in the north paved the way to high office for his vice president, Autonomist Party leader Adolfo Alsina. Alsina gained the support of a sizable facion of Mitre's Nationalist Party, resulting in the formation of the paramount political group in Argentina for the next 42 years: The National Autonomist Party (PAN). Mitre himself did not support Alsina, however, whom he viewed as a veiled Buenos Aires separatist. The elder statesman ran for the presidency again, though the seasoned Alsina outmaneuvered him by fielding Nicolás Avellaneda, a moderate lawyer from remote Tucumán Province. The electoral college met on April 12, 1874, and awarded Mitre only three provinces, including Buenos Aires. As he had repeatedly up to 1861, Mitre took up arms again. Hoping to prevent Avellaneda's October 12 inaugural, he mutineered a gunboat; he was defeated, however, and only President Avellaneda's commutation spared his life. 1880 A leader of the Conquest of the Desert, as well as of the suppression of Mitre's 1874 uprising and others, President Avellaneda had decided on General Julio Roca as his successor, early on. Memories of Mitre's defeat did not sit well with Buenos Aires separatists, and this faction nominated the Governor of Buenos Aires Province, Carlos Tejedor. Roca's April 11, 1880, selection by the electoral college was followed by Tejedor's armed insurrection, and though the latter was defeated, Mitre brokered negotiations between Tejedor's separatists and the national government. These negotiations eventually result in the Federalization of Buenos Aires in September, stabilizing the powerful province's position within Argentina. 1886 Confident of his authority following six years of peace and prosperity, President Roca was by then known for his shrewdness as "the fox." Enjoying the support of the agricultural elites - as well as of the London financial powerhouse, Barings Bank - Roca daringly fielded his brother-in-law, Córdoba Province Governor Miguel Juárez Celman, as the PAN candidate for president. A