2004–05 Russian gubernatorial elections

Gubernatorial elections in 2004 and 2005 were held in 25 federal subjects of Russia. In several regions these elections were moved from end of 2004 to March 14 to combine with the 2004 Russian presidential election.

2004–05 Russian gubernatorial elections

← 2003 14 March 2004 – 6 February 2005 2012 →
25 Heads of Federal Subjects from 89
2004 Russian regional elections:   Gubernatorial   Legislative   Gubernatorial and legislative   Gubernatorial and legislative (both of another subject)

On 12 December 2004, at the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin, gubernatorial elections were abolished throughout the country. These were the last gubernatorial elections in Russia until September 2012.

Race summary

Federal Subject	Date	Incumbent		First elected	Candidates
Udmurtia	14 March		Alexander Volkov	2000	Y Alexander Volkov (UR) 54.26% Yevgeny Odiyankov 18.89%
Altai Krai	14 March, 4 April		Aleksandr Surikov	1996	Y Mikhail Yevdokimov 39.46% / 49.53% Aleksandr Surikov (UR) 47.46% / 46.29%
Krasnodar Krai[1]	14 March		Alexander Tkachov	2000	Y Alexander Tkachov (supported by UR, CPRF, APR) 83.98% Aleksandr Bondarenko (LDPR) 3.36%
Arkhangelsk Oblast	14 & 28 March		Anatoly Yefremov	1996	Y Nikolay Kiselyov 44.49% / 75.04% Anatoly Yefremov (UR) 26.47% / 17.54% Yevgeny Guryev (CPRF) 4.62% Alexander Donskoy 3.93%
Voronezh Oblast	14 March		Vladimir Kulakov	2000	Y Vladimir Kulakov (supported by UR)[2] 52.49% Sergey Rudakov (CPRF) 20.13% Galina Kudryavtseva 14.55%
Kaluga Oblast	14 March		Anatoly Artamonov	2000	Y Anatoly Artamonov 66.86% Aleksandr Safronov 9.13%
Murmansk Oblast	14 March		Yury Yevdokimov	1996	Y Yury Yevdokimov (supported by UR)[2] 76.99% Aleksandr Kudasov (LDPR) 3.76%
Ryazan Oblast	14 & 28 March		Vyacheslav Lyubimov	1996	Y Georgy Shpak (Rodina) 23.79% / 53.51% Igor Morozov (UR) 28.94% / 40.32% Vyacheslav Lyubimov (CPRF) 21.08%
Chita Oblast	14 March		Ravil Geniatulin	1996	Y Ravil Geniatulin (UR) 68.18% Oleg Yesaulov 14.17%
Koryakia	14 March, 4 April		Vladimir Loginov	2000	Y Vladimir Loginov 37.42% / 50.88% Boris Chuyev 17.92% / 39.29% Andrey Petrov 16.75%
Chechnya	29 August		Sergey Abramov	—[a]	Y Alu Alkhanov (UR) 73.67%
Pskov Oblast	14 November, 5 December		Yevgeny Mikhailov	1996	Y Mikhail Kuznetsov 18.34% / 48.83% Yevgeny Mikhailov (UR) 29.71% / 41.40% Mikhail Bryachak (RPZh) 8.78% Igor Provkin 8.29% Aleksey Mitrofanov (LDPR) 8.24%
UOBAO	14 November		Valery Maleyev	1996	Y Valery Maleyev (UR) 55.83% Pyotr Khakhalov 37.41
Kurgan Oblast	28 November, 19 December		Oleg Bogomolov	1996	Y Oleg Bogomolov (UR) 35.07% / 49.15% Yevgeny Sobakin (SPS) 23.78% / 40.13% Pyotr Nazarov 23.61%
Astrakhan Oblast	5 December		Alexander Zhilkin	—[b]	Y Alexander Zhilkin (UR) 65.34% Igor Negerev (CPRF) 14.31%
Bryansk Oblast	5 & 19 December		Yury Lodkin	1993[c]	Y Nikolay Denin (UR) 44.75% / 77.83% Yevgeny Zelenko (SPS) 12.53% / 10.32% Nikolay Rudenok (SDPR) 6.31% Georgy Abushenko (RPZh) 5.87% Aleksandr Semernyov 4.87%
Volgograd Oblast	5 & 26 December		Nikolay Maksyuta	1996	Y Nikolay Maksyuta (CPRF) 41.41% / 51.13% Nikolay Volkov (SPS) 13.18% / 38.63% Oleg Savchenko (UR) 12.93% Yevgeny Golubyatnikov (LDPR) 7.22%
Kamchatka Oblast	5 & 19 December		Mikhail Mashkovtsev	2000	Y Mikhail Mashkovtsev (CPRF) 38.37% / 49.58% Boris Nevzorov 23.66% / 37.66% Oleg Kozhemyako 14.27% Aleksandr Dudnikov (UR) 10.44%
Ulyanovsk Oblast	5 & 26 December		Maria Bolshakova	—[d]	Y Sergey Morozov 27.75% / Sergey Gerasimov (SPS) 20.87% / Margarita Barzhanova (UR) 14.63% Mikhail Shkanov 9.69% Yury Goryachev 8.51%
Mari El	19 December		Leonid Markelov	2000	Y Leonid Markelov 56.86% Mikhail Dolgov 18.69%
Khabarovsk Krai	19 December		Viktor Ishayev	1996	Y Viktor Ishayev 85.34% Gennady Maltsev 4.17%
Khakassia	26 December		Aleksey Lebed	1996	Y Aleksey Lebed 59.15% Vladimir Kerzhentsev (CPRF) 11.97%
Nenets AO	23 January, 6 February		Vladimir Butov	1996[e]	Y Alexey Barinov 22.41% / 48.45% Igor Koshin 20.69% / 30.47% Leonid Sablin 18.06% Aleksandr Shmakov (UR) 16.22%

Bryansk Oblast

Governor of Bryansk Oblast Yury Lodkin was going on his third term in 2004 (fourth if 1993–96 tenure as Head of Administration counted), but was removed from registration "for abuse of office". The application to the regional court was submitted by the candidate from the People's Party Alexander Zhdanov. Lodkin, considered one of the favorites of the campaign, linked his removing from ballot with his Communist Party membership. He accused the United Russia party of “unwillingness to win legally”.^[3]

Samara Oblast

The elections were set up by the regional court on 19 September 2004,^[4] after the court recognized that the 5-year term limit, introduced into the Samara Oblast Charter during the 2000 elections, can come into force only after next elections and that Konstantin Titov's term expired on July 2. However, the elections were later canceled by the Supreme Court at the suit of the Central Election Commission.

Nenets Autonomous Okrug

Gubernatorial elections in Nenets Autonomous Okrug were held on 23 January 2005, the second round was held on February 6. Incumbent governor Vladimir Butov [ru], in office from 1996, could not be nominated due to the two-term limit (the Supreme Court of Russia overturned regional act passed shortly before the elections that allowed Butov to run for a third term). In addition he was convicted for beating a traffic police officer.^[5]

Candidates included:^[6]

• Alexey Barinov, President of a charitable foundation, former chief federal inspector for Nenets AO, ex-employee of LUKoil
• Viktoria Bobrova, assistant of Nenets AO Regional Prosecutor
• Vladimir Butov, relative and namesake of incumbent governor
• Igor Koshin, member of Nenets AO legislature; former secretary of the political council of United Russia's regional branch, expelled from the party after self-nominating for governorship
• Leonid Sablin, member of Nenets AO legislature, chairman of local executive committee (1985–90)
• Alexander Shmakov, entrepreneur

Results

Candidate		Party	First round		Second round
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	Alexey Barinov	Independent	4,362	22.74	9,005	48.87
	Igor Koshin	Independent	4,028	20.99	5,663	30.74
	Leonid Sablin	Communist Party	3,515	18.32
	Alexander Shmakov	United Russia	3,157	16.45
	Vladimir Butov		1,091	5.69
	Alexander Bebenin		593	3.09
	Viktoria Bobrova		497	2.59
	Leonid Bogachuk		88	0.46
	Nikolay Kalchishkov		72	0.38
	Vladimir Kislyakov		66	0.34
	Stanislav Bestuzhev		63	0.33
	Nikolay Kirikov		24	0.13
	Alexander Kolesnikov		24	0.13
	Mikhail Nikitsin		23	0.12
	Nikolay Yablokov		17	0.09
Against all			1,566	8.16	3,757	20.39
Total			19,186	100.00	18,425	100.00
Valid votes			19,186	98.55
Invalid/blank votes			282	1.45
Total votes			19,468	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			30,939	62.92
Source: Election Commission of Nenets Autonomous Okrug[7][8]

Aftermath

On 18 February 2005, Alexey Barinov officially took office. In May 2006 he was arrested on charges of committing fraud.^[9] On June 2 of the same year, President Vladimir Putin removed Barinov from the governorship and appointed the chief federal inspector for the region, Valery Potapenko as the interim governor of NAO. Later, in 2007, Barinov was acquitted.^[10]

Literature

• Ivanov, Vitaly (2020). Глава субъекта Российской Федерации. История губернаторов. Том I. История. Книга II [Head of the subject of the Russian Federation. History of governors. Volume I: History. Book II] (in Russian). pp. 250–252.

Notes

1. Interim president installed after assassination of Akhmad Kadyrov
2. Interim governor installed after death of Anatoly Guzhvin
3. Disqualified from reelection
4. Acting governor after Vladimir Shamanov's resign
5. Barred from reelection

References

1. History of elections and appointments of the governor of Krasnodar Krai, TASS (11 September 2020)
2. Gubernatorial elections — 2004, politika.su
3. Chronicle of Bryansk Oblast elections, Regnum (6 December 2004)
4. Gubernatorial election to be held in September, Tolyatti News (1 July 2004)
5. In St. Petersburg, the court sentenced the governor of Nenets Autonomous Okrug to three years of suspended imprisonment, Radio Liberty (31 December 2004)
6. Gubernatorial Elections — 2005, politika.su
7. Official results of the first tour, Election Commission of Nenets Autonomous Okrug
8. Official results of the second tour, Election Commission of Nenets Autonomous Okrug
9. Nenets Governor Barinov was arrested, utro.ru (24 May 2006)
10. History of elections and appointments of the governor of Nenets Autonomous Okrug, TASS (12 September 2020)