The elections in the Khabarovsk Territory, where they elected to replace the arrested and popular governor Sergei Furgal in the region, promised to be one of the most interesting political events in Russia, but did not. The voting results were in line with the all-Russian ones.
Since the summer of 2020, protests in support of the arrested ex-governor have not stopped in the region. The popular movement could become a powerful electoral factor. However, the election results showed that the Khabarovsk residents supported the interim head of the region, Mikhail Degtyarev, and the rating of United Russia in the region began to grow.
Governor Election Campaign
4 people became candidates for governors of the Khabarovsk Territory. In the final ballot, voters could not find candidates from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and United Russia. United Russia did not voluntarily nominate a competitor to a candidate who was supported by President Putin, but the communist Petr Perevezentsev was unable to collect the signatures of municipal deputies. The main confrontation was to unfold between the interim governor Mikhail Degtyarev and the candidate from the Just Russia – For the Truth party, Marina Kim. In addition to them, the ballot was attended by businessman Babek Mammadov, nominated by the Rodina party, and Vladimir Parfenov from the Pensioners’ Party.
Degtyarev enjoyed the full support of the federal authorities. For example, he was the first of the three previous governors to achieve the resettlement of several wooden houses without amenities on 60-letiya Oktyabrya Avenue with federal money. In addition, he announced the transfer of the Khabarovsk SIZO from the city center to the outskirts, publicly spoke out against compulsory vaccination against coronavirus, and also reduced utility rates in the northern regions of the region.
On the other hand, various political forces put forward strategies against Degtyarev. The consolidated candidate for the protest was the presenter of Channel One Marina Kim. The former press secretary of Sergei Furgal, Nadezhda Tomchenko, and members of Navalny’s team also campaigned for her.
Voting results
The publication of the first protocols indicated Degtyarev’s leadership with a result of 57-60 percent of the vote. This indicator remained after the processing of 99 percent of the ballots: the acting interim member had 56.99 percent (227 thousand votes), his closest competitor Marina Kim had 25.22 percent, a little more than 100 thousand people voted for her.
The turnout in the Khabarovsk Territory was about 44 percent. This is quite a lot for the region compared to previous polls. For example, in 2016, 34 percent of voters came to the elections of the State Duma deputies, and 36 percent came to the first round of the governor elections in 2018.
Fighting in single-mandate constituencies
Candidates from four parliamentary parties had equal chances to get into the federal parliament. The elections became truly competitive in two single-member constituencies. Intrigues in them persisted to the last. A real war of incriminating evidence unfolded between some of the candidates.
As a result, the main competitors in the 70th constituency, where Sergei Furgal’s son Anton was not allowed before the elections, were United Russia candidate Pavel Simigin and current Liberal Democratic Party deputy Ivan Pilyaev. And in the 69th district, a political duel took place between the communist Pyotr Perevezentsev and the United Russia party Boris Gladkikh.
As a result, candidates from United Russia won in both constituencies. Gladkikh got 51 thousand votes (about 26 percent), his main competitor Perevezentsev – 41 thousand. Pavel Simigin received 36 thousand votes, and the second place was unexpectedly taken by a little-known candidate from the Communists of Russia party, Larisa Zvinyatskaya.
The main beneficiary of protest sentiments in the region was the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. In the Khabarovsk Territory, according to preliminary data, it ranks first with a result of 26 percent. The second place is occupied by “United Russia”, its positions have doubled. Now she has received about 25 percent of the vote, and in 2019 in the elections to the Legislative Duma of the Khabarovsk Territory – only 12.5 percent.
See also:
.