1996 Russian gubernatorial elections

1996 Russian gubernatorial elections

←  1995 24 March – 29 December 1996 1997  →
51 Heads of Federal Subjects from 89
Leader Gennady Zyuganov Sergey Filatov Alliance People's Patriotic Union of Russia All-Russian Coordination Council Seats won 23 17
1996 Russian regional elections:   Gubernatorial   Gubernatorial (of another subject)   Two gubernatorial elections (including one of another subject)   Legislative   Legislative (of another subject)   Gubernatorial and legislative   Gubernatorial and legislative (both of another subject)   Referendum, gubernatorial and legislative

Gubernatorial elections in 1996 took place in 51 regions of the Russian Federation. President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaymiyev as well as mayors of Moscow and Saint Petersburg Yury Luzhkov and Anatoly Sobchak (all three elected in 1991) went to the re-election, while other regions held their first gubernatorial elections that year. All these campaigns were held after the 1996 Russian presidential election.

Background

In August 1996, two coalitions were presented, which formally became the main participants in the countrywides election campaign. Our Home – Russia, Democratic Choice of Russia, Party of Russian Unity and Accord and 16 other parties and movements loyal to re-elected Boris Yeltsin were united through representation in the All-Russian Coordination Council (OKS). It was opposed by the People's Patriotic Union of Russia (NPSR) associated with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and its allies. Former Kremlin Chief of Staff Sergei Filatov was appointed the head of OKS, while NPSR was headed by Gennady Zyuganov, leader of CPRF. ^[1]

NPSR initially announced the lists of approved candidates publicly and centrally, but by the end of the campaign it gave a significant part of the initiative to the localities. In some cases, the support was unilateral (without public commitment of the candidate). Among the candidates supported by NPSR were three incumbent governors, and in three regions the alliance observed neutrality. OKS supported mainly the incumbent governors. As a result of the autumn-winter electoral marathon, 22 out of 49 running incumbents re-elected. The second tours in Mari El and Tyumen Oblast moved to 1997, as well as recall elections in Amur Oblast, Agin-Buryat and Evenk Autonomous Okrugs. ^[2]

Results

First half of the year

Federal Subject	Date	Incumbent	Incumbent since	Candidates	Result
Tatarstan	24 March	Mintimer Shaymiyev	1991	Y Mintimer Shaymiyev 97.14% (ran unopposed)	Incumbent re-elected.
Saint Petersburg	19 May (first round)	Anatoly Sobchak	1991	Anatoly Sobchak 29.02% Vladimir Yakovlev 21.58% Yury Boldyrev 17.09% Yuri Sevenard 10.02% Aleksandr Belyakov 9.82%	Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected.
	2 June (runoff)			Y Vladimir Yakovlev 47.49% Anatoly Sobchak 45.76%
Moscow	16 June	Yury Luzhkov	1992	Y Yury Luzhkov / Valery Shantsev 88.49% Olga Sergeyeva / Stanislav Terekhov 4.94% Aleksandr Krasnov / Nikolay Moskvichyov 3.31%	Incumbent elected to full term.

September–November

Federal Subject	Date	Incumbent	Incumbent since	Candidates	Result
Saratov Oblast	1 September	Dmitry Ayatskov	1996	Y Dmitry Ayatskov (NDR/OKS, APR) [3] 80.19% Anatoly Gordeyev (CPRF/NPSR) 16.06%	Incumbent elected to full term.
Amur Oblast	22 September	Yury Lyashko	1996	Anatoly Belonogov  [ ru ] (NPSR) 41.10% Yury Lyashko (OKS) 41.02% Pavel Stein 9.34% Against all 6.94%	Election results annulled. Revote called for 23 March 1997 (see 1997 elections).
Leningrad Oblast	29 September	Aleksandr Belyakov	1991	Y Vadim Gustov (NPSR) 53.37% Aleksandr Belyakov (OKS) 31.66% Against all 5.06%	Incumbent lost election. New governor elected.
Rostov Oblast	29 September	Vladimir Chub	1991	Y Vladimir Chub (OKS) 62.16% Leonid Ivanchenko (NPSR) 31.60%	Incumbent elected to full term.
Vologda Oblast	6 October	Vyacheslav Pozgalyov	1996	Y Vyacheslav Pozgalyov 80.69% Mikhail Surov 4.21% Mikhail Beznin (CPRF/NPSR) 3.22% Nikolay Podgornov 3.18%	Incumbent elected to full term.
Kaliningrad Oblast	6 October (first round)	Yuri Matochkin	1991	Yuri Matochkin (OKS) 31.33% Leonid Gorbenko 22.29% Yury Semyonov (CPRF) 21.65% Viktor Vasilyev 5.41%	Incumbent lost election. New governor elected.
	20 October (runoff)			Y Leonid Gorbenko (supported by CPRF/NPSR) 49.56% Yuri Matochkin (OKS) 40.44%
Kirov Oblast	6 October (first round)	Vasily Desyatnikov  [ ru ]	1991	Vladimir Sergeyenkov  [ ru ] (NPSR) 39.64% Gennady Shtin 30.54% Vasily Desyatnikov (OKS) 18.20% Pyotr Polyantsev 5.63%	Incumbent lost election. New governor elected.
	20 October (runoff)			Y Vladimir Sergeyenkov  [ ru ] (NPSR) 50.46% Gennady Shtin (supported by NDR, Yabloko) 45.45%
Yamalo-Nenets AO	13 October	Yury Neyolov  [ ru ]	1994	Y Yury Neyolov  [ ru ] (OKS) 68.88% Vladimir Goman 22.77%	Incumbent elected to full term.
Kursk Oblast	20 October	Vasily Shuteyev	1991	Y Alexander Rutskoy (Derzhava/NPSR) 76.85% Vasily Shuteyev (OKS) 17.55%	Incumbent lost election. New governor elected.
Pskov Oblast	20 October (first round)	Vladislav Tumanov	1992	Vladislav Tumanov (supported by OKS, Yabloko) 30.92% Yevgeny Mikhailov (LDPR) 22.71% Vladimir Sidorenko (APR) 14.93% Ivan Komar (Honour and Homeland) 14.09% Vitaly Pushkaryov 10.94%	Incumbent lost election. New governor elected.
	3 November (runoff)			Y Yevgeny Mikhailov (LDPR, NPSR) 56.46% Vladislav Tumanov (OKS) 36.89%
Sakhalin Oblast	20 October	Igor Farkhutdinov	1995	Y Igor Farkhutdinov (OKS) 39.47% Anatoly Chyorny (NPSR) 27.20% Nikolay Dolgikh 9.44% Vladimir Bersenev (Yabloko) 7.21%	Incumbent elected to full term.
Jewish AO	20 October	Nikolay Volkov	1991	Y Nikolay Volkov (supported by OKS, Yabloko) 70.09% Sergey Leskov 16.28%	Incumbent elected to full term.
Krasnodar Krai	27 October	Nikolai Yegorov	1996	Nikolai Kondratenko (NPSR) 57.17% Nikolai Yegorov 24.75% Viktor Krokhmal (Honour and Homeland) 7.79% Boris Vavilov (LDPR) 2.33% Yevgeny Kharitonov (OKS) 2.00%	Election results annulled. Revote called for 22 December 1996 (see below).
Stavropol Krai	27 October (first round)	Pyotr Marchenko	1995	Alexander Chernogorov (CPRF/NPSR) 47.80% Pyotr Marchenko (NDR, supported by OKS, Yabloko) 37.63%	Incumbent lost election. New governor elected.
	17 November (runoff)			Y Alexander Chernogorov (CPRF/NPSR) 55.10% Pyotr Marchenko (NDR/OKS) 40.15%
Kaluga Oblast	27 October (first round)	Oleg Savchenko	1996	Valery Sudarenkov (supported by NPSR and Yabloko) 45.76% Oleg Savchenko (OKS) 39.63% Gennady Pushkin (LDPR) 3.57%	Incumbent lost election. New governor elected.
	9 November (runoff)			Y Valery Sudarenkov (NPSR) 63.51% Oleg Savchenko (OKS) 30.48%
Chita Oblast	27 October	Ravil Geniatulin	1996	Y Ravil Geniatulin (OKS) 30.76% Yaroslav Shvyryayev 22.89% Vladimir Bogatov (LDPR) 19.55% Viktor Kurochkin (supported by DR and Yabloko) 10.98% Viktor Kolesnikov (APR/NPSR) 7.14%	Incumbent elected to full term.
Agin-Buryat AO	27 October	Bolot Ayushiyev	1996	Bolot Ayushiyev 46.71% Yury Dondokov 46.16%	Election results annulled. [4] Revote called for 23 February 1997 (see 1997 elections).
Khanty-Mansi AO	27 October	Alexander Filipenko	1991	Y Alexander Filipenko (OKS, NPSR) 71.49% Gennady Korepanov 11.18% Against all 14.82%	Incumbent elected to full term.
Magadan Oblast	3 November	Viktor Mikhailov	1991	Y Valentin Tsvetkov (NPSR, Yabloko) 45.96% Viktor Mikhailov (OKS) 41.31% Against all 8.22%	Incumbent lost election. New governor elected.
Altai Krai	17 November (first round)	Lev Korshunov	1994	Alexander Surikov (NPSR) 46.92% Lev Korshunov (OKS) 43.39%	Incumbent lost election. New governor elected.
	1 December (runoff)			Y Alexander Surikov (NPSR) 49.36% Lev Korshunov (OKS) 46.14%
Kamchatka Oblast	17 November (first round)	Vladimir Biryukov	1991	Vladimir Biryukov (OKS) 47.67% Boris Oleynikov 10.65% Mikhail Kulak 9.36% Nikolay Tokmantsev 8.02% Against all 10.40%	Incumbent elected to full term.
	1 December (runoff)			Y Vladimir Biryukov (OKS) 60.96% Boris Oleynikov 27.80%
Murmansk Oblast	17 November (first round)	Yevgeny Komarov	1991	Yevgeny Komarov (OKS) 31.09% Yury Yevdokimov 20.10% Mikhail Zub 13.92% Boris Vorobyov (LDPR) 10.15% Vasily Kalayda (NPSR) 7.14% Igor Lebedev (Yabloko) 4.93%	Incumbent lost election. New governor elected.
	1 December (runoff)			Y Yury Yevdokimov (NPSR) 43.45% Yevgeny Komarov (OKS) 40.64%
Komi-Permyak AO	17 November	Nikolay Poluyanov	1991	Y Nikolay Poluyanov (OKS) 69.63% Anatoly Fedoseyev (Constitutional Party) 15.26% Against all 7.25%	Incumbent elected to full term.
Koryak AO	17 November	Sergey Leushkin  [ ru ]	1991	Y Valentina Bronevich (endorsed by NPSR nominee) 47.13% Sergey Leushkin (OKS) 25.58% Nikolay Savelyev 9.92% Against all 8.76%	Incumbent lost election. New governor elected.
Ust-Orda Buryat AO	17 November	Aleksey Batagayev  [ ru ]	1991	Y Valery Maleyev  [ ru ] 37.34% Aleksey Batagayev (OKS) 26.84% Ivan Ivanov (CPRF) 25.70%	Incumbent lost election. New governor elected. Independent gain.
Kurgan Oblast	24 November (first round)	Anatoly Sobolev  [ ru ]	1995	Oleg Bogomolov (NPSR) 40.87% Anatoly Koltashov (Yabloko) 33.14% Anatoly Sobolev (OKS) 12.92% Against all 10.45%	Incumbent lost election. New governor elected.
	8 December (runoff)			Y Oleg Bogomolov (NPSR) 66.29% Against all 31.97%

December

Federal Subject	Date	Incumbent	Incumbent since	Candidates	Result
Khakassia	1 December (first round)	Yevgeny Smirnov	1992	Aleksey Lebed (Honour and Homeland) 42.10% Yevgeny Reznikov 17.00% Yevgeny Smirnov (NDR, CPRF) [5] 11.06% Yury Shpigalskikh 5.88% Valery Shavyrkin 4.98% Nikolay Bulakin (OKS) [5] 4.76% Against all 5.52%	Incumbent lost election. New premier elected.
	22 December (runoff)			Y Aleksey Lebed (Honour and Homeland) 71.85% Yevgeny Reznikov 19.77% Against all 6.52%
Ivanovo Oblast	1 December	Vladislav Tikhomirov	1996	Y Vladislav Tikhomirov (OKS) 50.12% Sergey Sirotkin (LDPR) 23.86% Nikolay Lobayev (DVR) 9.41% Ivan Pimenov (CPRF/NPSR) 7.71% Against all 6.11%	Incumbent elected to full term.
Samara Oblast	1 December	Konstantin Titov	1991	Y Konstantin Titov (NDR/OKS, Yabloko) 63.39% Valentin Romanov (CPRF/NPSR) 29.86%	Incumbent elected to full term.
Nenets AO	1 December (first round)	Vladimir Khabarov	1996	Vladimir Khabarov (OKS) 40.64% Vladimir Butov  [ ru ] 21.99% Yury Komarovsky 15.30% Valentin Varankin 5.48% Against all 8.35%	Incumbent lost election. New governor elected.
	13 December (runoff)			Y Vladimir Butov  [ ru ] 48.46% Vladimir Khabarov (OKS) 40.27% Against all 9.74%
Khabarovsk Krai	8 December	Viktor Ishayev	1991	Y Viktor Ishayev (OKS/local NPSR) 76.93% Valentin Tsoi 7.23% Vadim Mantulov 5.03%	Incumbent elected to full term.
Arkhangelsk Oblast	8 December (first round)	Anatoly Yefremov	1996	Anatoly Yefremov (OKS) 34.54% Yury Guskov (CPRF/NPSR) 28.85% Pavel Pozdeyev 21.35% Aleksandr Ivanov (supported by DVR, Yabloko) 5.42% Against all 7.73%	Incumbent elected to full term.
	22 December (runoff)			Y Anatoly Yefremov (OKS, Yabloko) 58.67% Yury Guskov (CPRF/NPSR) 33.24%
Astrakhan Oblast	8 December	Anatoly Guzhvin	1991	Y Anatoly Guzhvin (NDR/OKS) 52.45% Vyacheslav Zvolinsky (CPRF/NPSR) 39.79%	Incumbent elected to full term.
Bryansk Oblast	8 December	Aleksandr Semernyov	1996	Y Yury Lodkin (CPRF/NPSR) 54.54% Aleksandr Semernyov (OKS) 25.81% Vladimir Barabanov 5.57%	Incumbent lost election. New governor elected.
Vladimir Oblast	8 December	Yury Vlasov	1991	Y Nikolay Vinogradov (CPRF/NPSR) 62.29% Yury Vlasov (OKS) 21.71%	Incumbent lost election. New governor elected.
Voronezh Oblast	8 December	Aleksandr Tsapin	1996	Y Ivan Shabanov (CPRF/NPSR) 48.97% Aleksandr Tsapin (OKS) 41.02%	Incumbent lost election. New governor elected.
Kostroma Oblast	8 December (first round)	Valery Arbuzov	1991	Viktor Shershunov (CPRF/NPSR) 41.72% Valery Arbuzov (NDR/OKS, Yabloko) 27.33% Nikolay Romanov (supported by LDPR, DR) 21.28%	Incumbent lost election. New governor elected.
	22 December (runoff)			Y Viktor Shershunov (CPRF/NPSR) 64.10% Valery Arbuzov (NDR/OKS, Yabloko) 30.24%
Perm Oblast	8 December (first round)	Gennady Igumnov	1996	Gennady Igumnov (OKS) 42.38% Sergey Levitan 26.89% Vladimir Ilyinykh 7.79% Yury Perkhun (CPRF) 4.89% Against all 7.17%	Incumbent elected to full term.
	22 December (runoff)			Y Gennady Igumnov (OKS) 63.86% Sergey Levitan 29.08%
Ryazan Oblast	8 December (first round)	Igor Ivlev	1996	Vyacheslav Lyubimov  [ ru ] (CPRF/NPSR) 38.29% Igor Ivlev (OKS) 29.55% Valery Kalashnikov (OKS) 14.03% Viktor Milekhin 8.93% Against all 5.07%	Incumbent lost election. New governor elected.
	22 December (runoff)			Y Vyacheslav Lyubimov  [ ru ] (CPRF/NPSR) 56.06% Igor Ivlev 38.36%
Mari El	22 December (first round)	Vladislav Zotin	1991	Vyacheslav Kislitsyn (CPRF/NPSR) 47.37% Leonid Markelov (LDPR) 29.21% Vladislav Zotin (OKS) 9.77%	Incumbent lost re-election. New president elected.
	4 January 1997 (runoff)			Y Vyacheslav Kislitsyn (CPRF/NPSR) 58.89% Leonid Markelov (LDPR) 36.24%
Sakha (Yakutia)	22 December	Mikhail Nikolayev	1991	Y Mikhail Nikolayev (OKS) 58.96% Artur Alekseyev (CPRF) 25.46%	Incumbent re-elected.
Krasnodar Krai (revote)	22 December	Nikolai Yegorov	1996	Y Nikolai Kondratenko (CPRF/NPSR) 82.00% Viktor Krokhmal (Honour and Homeland) 7.18% Nikolai Yegorov 4.83%	Incumbent lost election. New governor elected.
Volgograd Oblast	22 December (first round)	Ivan Shabunin	1991	Ivan Shabunin (OKS, supported by APR) [3] 37.64% Nikolay Maksyuta (NPSR) 28.51% Yury Chekhov (OKS) 25.22%	Incumbent lost election. New governor elected.
	29 December (runoff)			Y Nikolay Maksyuta (NPSR) 50.96% Ivan Shabunin (OKS) 44.15%
Tyumen Oblast	22 December (first round)	Leonid Roketsky	1993	Leonid Roketsky (OKS) 42.01% Sergey Atroshenko 23.87% Gennady Raikov 8.45% Anatoly Cherepanov (RCWP) 8.44%	Incumbent elected to full term.
	12 January 1997 (runoff)			Y Leonid Roketsky (OKS) 58.83% Sergey Atroshenko 32.94%
Ulyanovsk Oblast	22 December	Yury Goryachev	1992	Y Yury Goryachev  [ ru ] (supported by NDR and Yabloko) 42.48% Aleksandr Kruglikov (CPRF/NPSR) 33.71% Nikolay Semashin 7.63% Viktor Bartkaitis 5.63% Yury Cheburov (OKS) 7.62%	Incumbent elected to full term.
Chelyabinsk Oblast	22 December	Vadim Solovyov	1991	Y Pyotr Sumin (NPSR) 50.79% Vadim Solovyov (OKS) 15.99% Vladimir Grigoriadi 8.58% Vladimir Golovlyov (DVR) 6.49%	Incumbent lost election. New governor elected.
Taymyr AO	22 December	Gennady Nedelin	1991	Y Gennady Nedelin (OKS) 65.70% Gennady Subbotkin 11.30%	Incumbent elected to full term.
Chukotka AO	22 December	Aleksandr Nazarov	1991	Y Aleksandr Nazarov (OKS) 65.18% Vladimir Yetylin 21.04%	Incumbent elected to full term.
Evenk AO	22 December	Anatoly Yakimov	1991	Aleksandr Bokovikov (NPSR) 35.52% Anatoly Yakimov  [ ru ] (OKS) 34.62% Viktor Gayulsky (NDR) 13.12%	Election results annulled. Revote called for 23 March 1997 (see 1997 elections).

References

1. Ivanov 2019, p. 442.
2. Gubernatorial elections — 1996, politika.su
3. Колосов, В.А.; Туровский, Р.Ф. (1997). "Осенне-зимние выборы глав исполнительной власти в регионах: сценарии перемен" [The Autumn and Winter Elections of the Heads of the Executives in the Regions: Scenarios of Changes](PDF). Полис - политические исследования (in Russian) (1): 97–108. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
4. Ivanov 2019, p. 455.
5. Собецкий, Евгений (29 November 1996). "1 декабря в Хакасии проводятся выборы депутатов Верховного Совета и председателя правительства республики". Itar-Tass (in Russian). Archived from the original on 20 February 1998.

Sources

• Ivanov, Vitaly (2019). Глава субъекта Российской Федерации. История губернаторов[Head of the subject of the Russian Federation. History of governors] (in Russian). ISBN   978-5-907250-14-7.