Eduardo Raúl Costa

Costa was born in Río Gallegos, Santa Cruz, in 1961. He studied at the University of Belgrano in Buenos Aires, qualifying as a public accountant and business administrator.^[3]

Before entering elective politics, Costa developed retail and construction–supply businesses across Patagonia. He is widely associated with the home-improvement and building–materials chain Hipertehuelche, which expanded in the 1990s and 2000s.^[4][5]

Costa first ran for governor of Santa Cruz in 2007 as the candidate of a UCR–Civic Coalition alliance; he was defeated by Daniel Peralta.^[6] He ran again in 2011, when Peralta was re-elected; official provincial tallies list Costa as the main opposition contender.^[7]

Costa was elected National Deputy for Santa Cruz in 2009 and re-elected in 2013, serving until 2017.^[8][9]

In the 2017 legislative election Costa won a seat in the Argentine Senate for Santa Cruz. He took the oath on 29 November 2017, with the term beginning on 10 December 2017.^[10] His Senate tenure ended on 10 December 2023, when José María Carambia and Natalia Gadano assumed two of Santa Cruz's seats following the 2023 election.^[11][12]

Costa headed the opposition slate in the 2015 Santa Cruz provincial election|2015 gubernatorial election. Under the province's Ley de Lemas system in force at the time, Alicia Kirchner was elected governor despite Costa's sub-lema obtaining the largest individual vote; this outcome is reflected in the official results.^[13][14] He ran again in 2019, when Alicia Kirchner secured re-election; English-language coverage and local tallies reported her victory over Costa's coalition list.^[15][16]

Based on his public financial disclosures, national media have repeatedly ranked Costa among the wealthiest members of Congress during the 2010s and 2020s.^[17][18]

Costa lived for over a decade with Argentine politician Mariana Zuvic; the couple separated in 2019.^[19][20]