2014 Greek local elections
Local elections were held in Greece on 18 May 2014 (first round) and 25 May 2014 (second round). Voters elected representatives to the country's local authorities, comprising 13 regions and 325 municipalities. Background. Traditionally, candidates at local elections do not run under the official name of any party as the constitution only foresees the participation of electoral lists (or "combinations") and not parties. Despite this theoretical independence and distinction, for all practical purposes most candidates run as local front organisations for political parties. Issues. Greece is still facing a long-term government-debt crisis, which  may affect the elections. Election results. Source: Hellenic Ministry of the Interior In the municipalities, as well as the regions, any candidate can participate in the first round. If the leading candidate does not have an absolute majority (50%+) of the votes, then a second round is held between the two leading candidates in the first round. Regions. Attica. Contender Rena Dourou (SYRIZA) defeated incumbent Ioannis Sgouros (Society of Values) in the second round and succeeded him as Regional Governor of Attica. Central Greece. Kostas Bakoyannis (ND) defeated Evangelos Apostolou (SYRIZA) in the second round and succeeded Klearchos Pergantas (PASOK ) as Regional Governor of Central Greece. Central Macedonia. Incumbent Apostolos Tzitzikostas (ANEL/EPAL/LAOS) defeated contender Giannis Ioannidis (ND) in the second round and remained Regional Governor of Central Macedonia. Crete. Incumbent Stavros Arnaoutakis (Drasi) defeated contender Serafim Tsokas (ND) in the second round and remained Regional Governor of Crete. Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. Giorgos Pavlidis (ND), the former prefect of Xanthi, defeated incumbent Aris Giannakidis (ind.) in the second round and succeeded him as Regional Governor of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. Epirus. Incumbent Alexandros Kachrimanis (ND) defeated contender Olga Gerovasili (SYRIZA) in the first round and remained Regional Governor  of Epirus. Ionian Islands. Contender Theodoros Galiatsatos (SYRIZA), defeated incumbent (ND) in the second round and succeeded him as Regional Governor of the Ionian Islands. North Aegean. Contender Christiana Kalogirou (ND) defeated incumbent (ind.) in the second round and succeeded him as Regional Governor of the North Aegean. Peloponnese. Incumbent Petros Tatoulis (ND) defeated contender Odysseas Voudouris (SYRIZA) in the second round and remained Regional Governor of Peloponnese. South Aegean. Contender Giorgos Hatzimarkos (ND) defeated incumbent (ind.) in the second round and succeeded him as Regional Governor of the South Aegean. Thessaly. Incumbent (ND) defeated contender Nikos Tsilimingas (DIMAR) in  the second round and remained Regional Governor of Thessaly. Western Greece. Incumbent Apostolos Katsifaras (ind.) defeated contender Andreas Katsaniotis (Nea Dimokratia) in the second round and remained Regional Governor of Western Greece. Western Macedonia. Contender Theodoros Karypidis (ind.), defeated incumbent (ND) in the second round and succeeded him as Regional Governor of Western Macedonia. Reaction. The elections were regarded as a victory for SYRIZA, which was not expected to perform well due to its weak local organization. Candidates backed by the ruling New Democracy fared poorly, particularly Prime Minister Antonis Samaras' hand-picked candidates. In Athens, New Democracy failed to  make the runoff for the first time since 1975. In response the results, PM Samaras said "Greece must show it has the stability that it deserves" in the second round and European election scheduled to take place next week. Opposition leader Alexis Tsipras said it was a "historic day", and that next Sunday would be "the first day of a new era."