2025 Tatar head election

2025 Tatar head election

← 2020 14 September 2025 2030 →

Candidate Rustam Minnikhanov Khafiz Mirgalimov Party United Russia CPRF   Candidate Vitaly Smirnov Ruslan Yusupov Party Party of Pensioners LDPR

Head before election Rustam Minnikhanov United Russia Head-elect TBD TBD

The 2025 Republic of Tatarstan head election will take place on 14 September 2025, on common election day, to elect the head (rais) of Tatarstan. Incumbent head Rustam Minnikhanov is eligible to run for a fourth term in office.

Background

Then-Prime Minister of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov was elected President of Tatarstan by the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan in March 2010 after incumbent Mintimer Shaimiev declined to seek a fifth term. ^[1] Minnikhanov won the subsequent direct presidential elections in 2015 and 2020 with 94.40% and 83.27% of the vote respectively. ^{[2] [3]} In February 2023 State Council of Tatarstan renamed the position of "President of the Republic of Tatarstan" as "Head (Rais) of the Republic of Tatarstan", in accordance with the federal law after initial reluctance of the Tatar authorities. ^[4]

Initially the Head of the Republic of Tatarstan was limited for just two consecutive terms so Minnikhanov would have been term-limited in 2025 (as his 2015–2020 would have been counted as first since the re-introduction of direct gubernatorial elections). However, in December 2021 "On Common Principles of Organisation of Public Authority in the Subjects of the Russian Federation" law was enacted (coincidentally, the same law prevented the head of Tatarstan to be named "President"), which lifted term limits for Russian governors. ^[5] Tatarstan followed suit and lifted the restrictions, which allowed Minnikhanov to seek another term in 2025. As of 2025, Minnikhanov is the second-longest serving Russian governor only behind Ramzan Kadyrov, who has served as Head of the Chechen Republic since 2007. ^[6]

In April 2025 A Just Russia – For Truth leader Sergey Mironov announced that the party would not field its candidate, supporting Rustam Minnikhanov in the upcoming head election, despite Minnikhanov not stating his intentions yet. ^[7] In June 2025 Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Vladislav Davankov also said that New People would not compete in the election. ^[8]

Candidates

In Tatarstan candidates for head of the Republic of Tatarstan can be nominated only by registered political parties. Candidate for Head of Tatarstan should be a Russian citizen and at least 30 years old. Candidates for head of the Republic of Tatarstan should not have a foreign citizenship or residence permit. Each candidate in order to be registered is required to collect at least 5% of signatures of members and heads of municipalities. ^[9] Also head candidates present 3 candidacies to the Federation Council and election winner later appoints one of the presented candidates.

Candidate name, political party			Occupation	Status	Ref.
Rustam Minnikhanov United Russia			Incumbent Head of Tatarstan (2010–present)	Registered	[10] [11] [12] [13]
Khafiz Mirgalimov Communist Party			Member of State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan (2004–present) 2015 presidential candidate	Registered	[14] [15]
Vitaly Smirnov Party of Pensioners			Member of Bolshiye Yaki Council (2020–present) Retired businessman	Registered	[16]
Ruslan Yusupov Liberal Democratic Party			Member of State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan (2014–2019, 2024–present) Businessman 2015 presidential candidate	Registered	[17]

Eliminated at the convention

• Aleksandr Terentyev (United Russia), Senator from Tatarstan (2022–present) ^[12]

Polls

Fieldwork date	Polling firm	Minnikhanov	Mirgalimov	Yusupov	Smirnov	Lead
March – August 2025	CSRI	84	6	4	4	78

Results

Summary of the 14 September 2025 Tatar head election results

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Rustam Minnikhanov (incumbent)	United Russia
	Khafiz Mirgalimov	Communist Party
	Vitaly Smirnov	Party of Pensioners
	Ruslan Yusupov	Liberal Democratic Party
Valid votes
Blank ballots
Total				100.00
Turnout
Registered voters				100.00
Source:

See also

• 2025 Russian regional elections

References

1. "Р.Минниханов стал новым президентом Татарстана". rbc.ru. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
2. "Рустам Минниханов победил на президентских праймериз в Татарстане". rt.rbc.ru. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
3. "Рустам Минниханов набрал 83,28% голосов на выборах президента Татарстана". tass.ru. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
4. "Вступили в силу поправки в Конституцию РТ: президент стал раисом". rt.rbc.ru. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
5. "Основные положения закона об организации публичной власти в субъектах РФ". tass.ru. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
6. "Кого хочешь выбирай". kommersant.ru. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
7. "«Справедливая Россия» поддержит Рустама Минниханова на выборах раиса Татарстана". kommersant.ru. Retrieved 2025-04-12.
8. "«Новые люди» отказались от участия в выборах раиса Татарстана". business-gazeta.ru. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
9. "Избирательный кодекс Республики Татарстан от 7 мая 2007 года N 21-ЗРТ (с изменениями на 26 апреля 2025 года)". docs.cntd.ru. Retrieved 2025-06-15.
10. "Единороссы готовы поддержать Рустама Минниханова на выборах Раиса РТ". tatar-inform.ru. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
11. "«Единая Россия» выдвинет Рустама Минниханова кандидатом на пост раиса Татарстана". realnoevremya.ru. Retrieved 2025-04-06.
12. "Минниханов и Терентьев: «Единая Россия» определилась с кандидатами на праймериз перед выборами раиса РТ". business-gazeta.ru. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
13. "Минниханов Рустам Нургалиевич". izbirkom.ru. Retrieved 2025-07-07.
14. "Беспартийное поведение". kommersant.ru. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
15. "Миргалимов Хафиз Гаязович". izbirkom.ru. Retrieved 2025-07-08.
16. "Смирнов Виталий Николаевич". izbirkom.ru. Retrieved 2025-07-08.
17. "Юсупов Руслан Рафаилевич". izbirkom.ru. Retrieved 2025-06-30.