# 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.
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 | 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) 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) 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 | — | 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 | — | Y Alexander Zhilkin (UR) 65.34% Igor Negerev (CPRF) 14.31% |
| Bryansk Oblast | 5 & 19 December | Yury Lodkin | 1993 | 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 | — | 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 | 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”.

## Samara Oblast

The elections were set up by the regional court on 19 September 2004, 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.
Candidates included:
* 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 | Candidate | Party | First round | First round | Second round | Second round |
| Candidate | Candidate | Party | 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 | Against all | Against all | 1,566 | 8.16 | 3,757 | 20.39 |
| Total | Total | Total | 19,186 | 100.00 | 18,425 | 100.00 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 19,186 | 98.55 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 282 | 1.45 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 19,468 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 30,939 | 62.92 | | |
| Source: Election Commission of Nenets Autonomous Okrug |||||||

### Aftermath

On 18 February 2005, Alexey Barinov officially took office. In May 2006 he was arrested on charges of committing fraud. 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.

## 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.