The populist nationalist Liberal Democratic Party candidate has won over two thirds of the vote in the run-off governor polls in Russias Khabarovsk Region, while another LDPR candidate took Vladimir Region with a 20-point lead.
The Russian State Duma MP and the LDPR candidate, Sergey Furgal, has gained almost 70 percent of votes, the Russian Central Elections Committee confirmed. His competitor, the incumbent governor Vyacheslav Shport, who represented the ruling United Russia party, managed to receive the backing of less than 28 percent of the voters. In the first round, Furgal and Shport received roughly the same number of votes – 35.43 and 35.62 percent respectively, with a 36.09 percent voter turnout. In the run-off elections, the turnout was even higher and amounted to 43 percent.
Russia's governing United Russia party has shipped a huge defeat in the Far Eastern province of Khabarovsk. Its outgoing governor Vyacheslav Shport has lost 70%-30% against nationalist opposition candidate Sergei Furgal. https://t.co/2YktGvTE7e
— Bryan MacDonald (@27khv) September 23, 2018
The two candidates already fought for the gubernatorial seat in Khabarovsk Region back in 2013 but at that time Shport won. The Russian Central Elections Committee said there were no major violations that could possibly lead to the cancellation of election results. The results of another regional vote, in the neighboring Primorsky Region, were earlier annulled due to numerous violations reported by both candidates after last Sundays runoff.
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The Khabarovsk elections, however, also failed to pass without controversies. Ahead of the vote, a video emerged, which showed Shport offering Furgal a place in the regional government if he dropped out of the race. The LDPR candidate replied that he would take the offer if he loses but added that he would not voluntarily exit the race. The LDPR leader, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, then said that his party is not negotiating any deals with other candidates concerning future appointments in the regional administration. He also said that LDPR would not give up the fight for the gubernatorial seat in Khabarovsk Region.
In addition to securing Khabarovsk, the Liberal Democrats also managed to oust the incumbent governor of Vladimir Region, Svetlana Orlova, out of office. During the second round of voting there, Vladimir Sipyagin beat his United Russia competitor by gaining 57 percent, as against 37 percent of the vote. According to the Central Elections Committee, more than 38 percent of the regions voters cast their ballots on Sunday.
The winner of the vote called his election a “good and confident result,” noting that he had no doubts that “this would happen.” Speaking to Sputnik, Sipyagin noted that he had already begun to form his team even before the run-off vote took place.
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