Mr. Scioli, a former vice-president and powerboating champion who lost his right arm in a 1989 racing accident, was leading in polls before Sunday’s vote by around 10 points.
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He had hoped for an outright victory.
Sergio Massa, a left-of-center congressman, trailed in third with 21 percent, while three other candidates were further behind.
Five major television broadcasters put Scioli in the lead and Macri in second, but it was unclear whether he racked up the magic numbers to avoid a second round on November 22.
Still, there are a few salient distinctions – especially when it comes to whether they will keep or dismantle the legacy of the past 12 years under President Cristina Kirchner and her late husband Nestor. Macri said there would be a runoff, and called on voters to choose him in a second round.
Analysts expected many who supported Massa in the primary to defect to one of the two frontrunners – to Macri due to his opposition to the incumbent party, or to Scioli due to their parties’ common Peronist identity.
Gambling that voters would be afraid of rapid change, notably after Argentina’s 2000-2002 economic meltdown, Mr Scioli was offering a more “gradualist” platform with more timid steps to deal with the imbalances including the outstanding debt, which bars the country from worldwide debt markets, and an out-of-kilter currency that is ripe for a devaluation.
Macri has vowed to dismantle the Kirchners’ legacy of protectionism, hands-on management of the economy and combative rhetoric.
While Macri’s moves raised eyebrows and drew sharp criticism from Scioli, they likely helped Macri capture undecided voters.
Argentina has been locked in a protracted legal battle with a group of US-based hedge funds that have refused debt restructuring and demanded full repayment for bonds on which the country defaulted in 2001. Her government was the first in Latin America to legalize gay marriage, and it nationalized airline Aerolineas Argentinas and the YPF oil company while strengthening ties with Russian Federation and China and often criticizing the United States of meddling in the country’s affairs.
But the early results were met by deathly silence at Mr Scioli’s headquarters, where minutes before supporters had been celebrating what was expected to be a comfortable lead if not outright victory by the Buenos Aires provincial governor.
Scioli served as Nestor Kirchner’s vice president from 2003 to 2007, while Macri, 56, is a former football executive.
“I ask those who chose another proposal to accompany me”, Scioli said in a televised speech ahead of the release of the first results Sunday.
“I voted for Macri because in the last few years the country hasn’t grown economically or socially”, said Karina Cunibertti, 46, an insurance company employee in Buenos Aires.
“What Scioli would do in office is a mystery”, said Maria Fernandez, who owns a real estate company.
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However, the pair faced criticism for their economic policies, too.
