2017 Georgian local elections

The 2017 Georgian local elections (Georgian: საქართველოს ადგილობრივი თვითმმართველობის ორგანოების არჩევნები) were held on 21 October 2017[1] to elect the bodies of local government of Georgia: 2,058 members of representative councils (sakrebulo) and 64 mayors of municipalities. The votes went into second-round runoffs in six municipalities on 12 November 2017.[2] The ruling Georgian Dream party won in all constituencies under the proportional contest and secured 62 out of 64 mayoral positions.

2017 Georgian local elections

← 201421 October 2017 (first round)
12 November 2017 (second round)
2021 →
Turnout45.65% (first round)
33.24% (second round)
 
PartyGeorgian DreamUNMEuropean Georgia
Popular vote838,154256,547156,232
Percentage55.81%17.08%10.4%

 
PartyAPGLabour PartyDM - FG
Popular vote98,53049,13038,898
Percentage6.56%3.27%2.59%

Background

There are two types of municipalities in Georgia: self-governing cities and self-governing communities. The representative councils (sakrebulo) and executive heads of municipalities – mayors are directly elected by the citizens of Georgia to a four-year term. The election date was appointed by the President of Georgia 60 days prior to the polls and countersigned by the Prime Minister.[3]

The previous elections were held in two rounds in 2014. Most of the sakrebulo (council) and gamgebeli (mayoral) seats were won by the ruling Georgian Dream coalition.[4]

Election campaign

The local non-governmental organizations monitoring the elections—the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), the Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA) and the Transparency International Georgia—jointly assessed the pre-election environment as mostly peaceful and noted that, while political parties were noticeably active, "the ruling party's dominance was evident".[5] The most serious incident in the pre-election campaign occurred in the village of Kizilajlo of Marneuli Municipality in which the Georgian Dream's candidate and other persons were assaulted with a firearm at the party office on October 19.[5]

In the 2017 elections, the first ever openly-gay candidate ran for public office in Georgia. Republican Party candidate Nino Bolkvadze aimed to take her place in the city assembly of the capital of Georgia. "Bolkvadze, who is running for the Republican Party, a small opposition force, said she hoped her campaign would put the spotlight on gay rights and change outdated public perceptions of LGBT people."[6]

2017 Tbilisi mayoral election

2017 Tbilisi mayoral election

← 201421 October 20172021 →
Turnout43.43%
 
NomineeKakha KaladzeAleko ElisashviliZaal Udumashvili
PartyGeorgian DreamIndependentUNM
Popular vote204,06169,80366,259
Percentage51.09%17.48%16.59%

 
NomineeElene KhoshtariaIrma InashviliGiorgi Vashadze
PartyEuropean GeorgiaAPGNew Georgia
Popular vote28,41112,0707,800
Percentage7.11%3.02%1.95%

The 2017 Tbilisi mayoral election (Georgian: თბილისის მერის არჩევნები) was held on 21 October to elect the Mayor of Tbilisi.Tbilisi City Assembly elections were held simultaneously.

The main candidates of the mayoral election were Kakha Kaladze, former footballer and minister of energy from the ruling Georgian Dream coalition; journalist Zaal Udumashvili from the UNM; independent candidate Aleko Elisashvili, journalist and a member of the Tbilisi City Assembly; Elene Khoshtaria from European Georgia, journalist and a member of the parliament; Irma Inashvili, leader of the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia and a member of the parliament.

Opinion polls

DatePollsterKaladze
GD
Udumashvili
UNM
Elisashvili
Independent
Khoshtaria
EG
Lead
22 September - 2 October 2017Edison Research34%14%14%5%20%
23 August - 15 October 2017Metronome33%13%29%14%5%
18 June - 9 July 2017NDI37%16%22%5%15%

Results

CandidatePartyVotes%
Kakha KaladzeGeorgian Dream204,06151.09
Aleko ElisashviliIndependent69,80317.48
Zaal UdumashviliUnited National Movement66,25916.59
Elene KhoshtariaEuropean Georgia28,4117.11
Irma InashviliAlliance of Patriots12,0703.02
Giorgi VashadzeNew Georgia7,8001.95
Kakha KukavaDemocratic Movement5,0051.25
Giorgi GugavaLabour Party3,8420.96
Tengiz ShergelashviliDevelopment Movement1,0070.25
Lasha SturuaProgressive-Democratic Movement3960.10
Giorgi LiluashviliGeorgia3590.09
Davit ShukakidzeNational-Democratic Movement2010.05
Nikoloz SaneblidzeTraditionalists1960.05
Total399,410100.00
Valid votes399,41097.26
Invalid/blank votes11,2602.74
Total votes410,670100.00
Registered voters/turnout943,42343.53
Source: CEC

Results

MunicipalityTurnoutGDUNMEGAPGGLPDMFGSADMFUGOthersLead
Tbilisi*43.4353.1517.669.185.623.903.183.44 3.8735.49
Sagarejo41.8462.1412.799.298.523.452.95 0.8649.35
Gurjaani50.6054.1011.9720.647.043.571.42 1.2633.46
Sighnaghi47.2356.2021.858.258.643.061.61 0.3934.35
Dedoplistskaro47.3461.9914.879.208.172.451.29 2.0347.12
Lagodekhi46.5555.1020.6711.614.713.003.98 0.9334.43
Kvareli54.3354.9218.358.899.084.901.78 2.0836.57
Telavi48.7251.5825.389.234.463.731.690.562.28 1.0926.20
Akhmeta50.0053.6617.5514.375.554.883.18 0.8136.11
Tianeti57.5147.464.832.535.943.803.95 31.220.2716.24
Rustavi*38.6647.8921.1612.427.405.041.971.46 2.6626.73
Gardabani36.6070.529.799.016.103.030.85 0.7060.73
Marneuli38.6969.477.7918.251.160.380.661.560.31 0.4251.22
Bolnisi44.1080.699.963.783.020.931.14 0.4870.73
Dmanisi53.6575.787.722.932.010.761.45 9.02 0.3366.76
Tsalka45.9566.2114.674.637.28 1.584.15 1.4851.54
Tetritskaro45.3862.8117.60 9.434.404.43 1.3345.21
Mtskheta48.0560.5510.848.6612.435.690.92 0.9148.12
Dusheti43.5351.906.819.2615.9911.102.82 2.1235.91
Kazbegi51.7246.15 8.7711.995.289.53 18.2834.16
Kaspi42.3456.1916.326.9911.535.281.67 2.0239.87
Gori40.1951.8716.9410.255.503.362.40 7.94 1.7434.93
Kareli45.2358.6618.2310.455.604.042.24 0.7840.43
Khashuri39.3446.0520.848.6510.248.333.791.06 1.0425.21
Borjomi49.1941.3211.255.2133.674.183.00 1.377.65
Akhaltsikhe53.5465.629.9719.502.191.740.44 0.5446.12
Adigeni65.5259.576.9120.957.921.702.75 0.2038.62
Aspindza69.3759.197.6712.2514.903.122.50 0.3744.29
Akhalkalaki52.2361.331.384.2026.660.444.97 1.0234.67
Ninotsminda55.3079.681.525.889.10 2.630.89 0.3070.58
Oni58.5161.9511.875.3812.063.55 4.46 0.7349.89
Ambrolauri63.1463.2712.786.777.804.364.06 0.9650.49
Tsageri61.5053.548.2917.047.065.307.80 0.9736.50
Lentekhi53.6654.4911.559.1512.783.368.06 0.6141.71
Mestia63.9459.287.5912.5512.922.462.96 2.2446.36
Kharagauli63.4356.6516.6510.595.613.092.32 4.66 0.4340.00
Terjola58.2056.918.3325.155.042.111.92 0.5431.76
Sachkhere51.2282.264.604.854.44 3.8577.41
Zestafoni44.0351.5116.4114.769.483.822.46 1.5635.10
Baghdati54.9352.6219.6213.554.923.393.34 2.14 0.4233.00
Vani56.3063.2412.7716.623.243.050.69 0.3946.62
Samtredia47.8551.7122.7111.384.272.232.701.462.57 0.9729.00
Khoni63.5654.618.1731.422.692.140.50 0.4723.19
Chiatura44.6356.5615.778.987.502.432.561.741.37 3.0940.79
Tkibuli50.9849.6723.6711.646.422.374.740.73 0.7626.00
Tskaltubo46.0249.3426.9512.653.902.533.46 1.1722.39
Kutaisi*35.3649.1523.3711.933.893.762.862.640.90 1.5025.78
Ozurgeti56.9958.3613.229.7510.074.562.15 1.8945.14
Lanchkhuti58.3058.2413.0112.565.683.673.562.22 1.0645.23
Chokhatauri64.1854.329.599.6611.222.431.55 7.99 3.2443.10
Abasha61.7551.3523.057.934.871.934.121.94 4.8128.30
Senaki47.2151.0725.0512.484.312.661.27 1.19 1.9726.02
Martvili61.9440.0827.7710.797.241.383.18 9.5612.31
Khobi54.6252.6117.0213.793.804.223.65 2.60 2.3135.59
Zugdidi37.9957.0024.6811.061.702.051.88 1.6332.32
Tsalenjikha44.9854.9622.9512.215.082.201.47 1.1332.01
Chkhorotsqu57.4953.6523.906.804.351.542.09 4.33 3.3429.75
Poti*45.0651.4915.2611.605.494.394.41 6.47 0.8936.23
Batumi*36.3753.9124.926.776.733.191.920.92 1.6428.99
Keda66.0957.1620.467.778.752.981.96 0.9236.70
Kobuleti49.9557.3524.644.257.341.792.93 1.7032.71
Shuakhevi61.2460.3918.467.235.491.652.74 4.0441.93
Khelvachauri43.7750.6524.588.008.522.653.12 1.86 0.6226.07
Khulo59.7551.4622.9910.794.391.375.12 3.76 0.1228.47
Source: CEC CEC

^* denotes a self-governing city.

See also

References