Venezuelan regional elections, 2004

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The 2004 regional elections of Venezuela were held on 31 October 2004 to elect 22 governors and 2 metropolitan mayors for a four-year term beginning in 2004 and ending in 2008, when the next regional elections were held. The elections were originally scheduled for 26 September 2004, but faced technical issues[1] and an application for annulment requested by the opposition,[2] and were held under high political pressure after the events of the recall referendum of August 2004.[3][4] The ongoing political crisis in the country and the proximity of the two electoral processes marked the environment of the elections,[5] which were won with an overwhelming margin by the candidates supported by the president, Hugo Chavez.[6][7]

A total 1,577 political organizations participated in the elections; however, abstention levels reached 52%.[8] As a result, the opposition held two of the 22 governments but lost the Caracas and capital disctrict mayorships.[8] Henrique Salas Römer, who ran as a presidential candidate in 1998, lost the government of Carabobo to Luis Acosta Carlez. Claudio Fermin, who run for precedency in the elections of 2000, had no success at the metropolitan mayorship of Caracas, losing to Juan Barreto. Opposition candidate and incumbent governor Enrique Mendoza, who was considered as a possible future presidential candidate,[9] lost the elections of the Miranda state to Diosdado Cabello. Manuel Rosales, who would later run for precedency in the elections of 2006,[8] became the governor of the Zulia state.

Candidates

Following, the list of three main candidates according to their political affiliation (government, opposition and dissident or independent) ordered by number of votes attained. The political affiliation is determined by the political parties supporting each candidate. For the 2004 elections, government candidates were supported by the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) party; opposition candidates were supported by either Democratic Action (AD), Justice First Movement (PJ), A New Era (UNT), or the Political Electoral Independent Organization Committee (COPEI) party; and independent candidates were mostly supported by regional parties.

Metropolitan mayors

dagger Indicates the winning candidate
Metropolitan Area Affiliation Candidate % Votes
Caracas Government Juan Barreto double-dagger 60.33 388,356
Opposition Claudio Fermin 39.28 252,881
Independent Reina Sequera 0.22 1,419
Capital District Government Freddy Bernal double-dagger 73.89 284,085
Opposition Carlos Melo 19.05 73,265
Opposition Jesus Suarez 5.79 22,269

Governors


dagger Indicates the winning candidate
State Affiliation Candidate % Votes
Anzoátegui Government Tarek William Saab double-dagger 57.38 187,209
Opposition Antonio Barreto Sira 42.33 138,120
Independent Elias Lopez Portillo 0.11 370
Apure Government Jesus Aguilarte double-dagger 66.85 88,587
Opposition Luis Lippa 27.49 36,431
Independent Jose Montilla 4.55 6,040
Aragua Government Didalco Bolívar double-dagger 67.69 217,796
Opposition Margarita Tablante 22.09 71,085
Independent Luiz Augusto Zapata 5.17 16,654
Barinas Government Hugo de los R. Chavez double-dagger 76.26 135,674
Opposition Andres Eloy Camejo 13.85 24,651
Independent Rafael Rosales Peña 7.82 13,912
Bolívar Government Francisco Rangel double-dagger 58.84 146,329
Opposition Antonio Rojas Suarez 37.40 93,012
Opposition Jorge Carvajal 2.57 6,413
Carabobo Government Luis Acosta Carlez double-dagger 51.25 311,189
Opposition Henrique Salas Römer 48.01 291,519
Independent Jose Gregorio Ruiz 0.72 4,378
Cojedes Government Jhonny Yanez Rangel double-dagger 56.12 54,142
Opposition Alberto Galindez 36.32 35,044
Independent Jose Felipe Machado 0.16 4,013
Delta Amacuro Government Yelitza Santaella double-dagger 61.30 29,441
Independent Emeri Mata 37.15 17,843
Opposition Victor Cedeño 1.44 695
Falcón Government Jesús Montilla double-dagger 59.47 118,718
Opposition Luis Stefanelli 36.61 73,100
Independent Yoel Acosta Chirinos 3.46 6,922
Guárico Government Eduardo Manuitt double-dagger 78.45 115,010
Opposition Jose Malave Risso 18.75 27,495
Independent Alexis Bermudez 1.32 1,942
Lara Government Luis Reyes Reyes double-dagger 73.55 289,945
Opposition Orlando Fernandez 18.70 73,714
Opposition Mariano Navarro 4.39 17,307
Mérida Government Florencio Porras double-dagger 60.74 135,895
Opposition William Davila 21.66 48,465
Opposition Carlos Belandria 15.48 34,649
Miranda Government Diosdado Cabello double-dagger 51.87 345,752
Opposition Enrique Mendoza 48.12 320,731
Monagas Government Jose Briceño double-dagger 58.28 144,326
Opposition Guillermo Call 41.43 102,599
Independent Romulo Rojas 0.27 678
Nueva Esparta Opposition Morel Rodriguez double-dagger 51.32 66,432
Government Alexis Navarro Rojas 43.53 56,350
Independent Eustacio Aguilera 3.37 4,372
Portuguesa Government Antonia Muñoz double-dagger 59.98 128,370
Opposition Ivan Colmenares 34.67 74,206
Independent Angel Graterol 1.74 3,742
Sucre Government Ramon Martínez double-dagger 62.19 140,407
Opposition Ramiro Gomez 35.69 80,595
Independent Napoleon Barrios 1.50 3,404
Táchira Government Ronald Blanco double-dagger 57.47 169,587
Opposition Sergio Omar Calderon 39.88 117,682
Independent Jose Luis Rincon 2.29 6,763
Trujillo Government Gilmer Viloria double-dagger 54.30 101,141
Opposition Conrado Perez 28.06 52,257
Independent Oresteres Leal 14.79 27,546
Vargas Government Antonio Rodriguez double-dagger 55.22 38,920
Independent Roberto Smith 19.29 13,598
Independent Gladys Requena 10.21 7,200
Yaracuy Government Carlos Gimenez double-dagger 50.73 101,481
Independent Eduardo Lapi 47.40 94,835
Opposition Alfonso Puche 1.75 3,505
Zulia Opposition Manuel Rosales double-dagger 54.02 483,924
Government Alberto Gutierrez 44.42 397,927
Independent Francisco Arias Cardenas 0.56 5,092

References

General
Specific
  1. ↑ "Venezuela posterga elecciones regionales". Infobae.com (in Spanish) (Argentina: Grupo Infobae). 3 September 2004. Archived from the original on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  2. ↑ "Supremo rechaza anular elecciones y excluir a nuevos votantes". Terra Networks (in Spanish) (Mexico: Telefónica). 26 October 2004. Archived from the original on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  3. ↑ Hellinger, Daniel (May 2005). "When "No" Means "Yes to Revolution": Electoral Politics in Bolivarian Venezuela". Latin American Perspectives 32 (142, number 3). p. 8-32. doi:10.1177/0094582X05275530. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  4. ↑ Reuters (21 August 2004). "Oposición venezolana amenaza con no participar en comicios regionales". La Prensa (in Spanish) (Panamá: Corporación La Prensa). Archived from the original on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  5. ↑ "Venezuela: Headed toward Civil War?". International Crisis Group. 10 May 2004. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  6. ↑ "En Venezuela el oficialismo logra una amplia victoria". La Red 21 (in Spanish) (Uruguay: 4Pixels SRL). 1 November 2004. Archived from the original on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  7. ↑ "Chavismo, el más fuerte de Venezuela". Univisión Noticias (in Spanish) (Mexico: Univisión Communications). 2 November 2004. Archived from the original on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Chacho Álvarez, Isidoro Cheresky (2007). Elecciones Presidenciales y Giro Político en América Latina (in Spanish). Ediciones Manantial. p. 255. ISBN 9789875001060. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  9. ↑ Steve Ellner, Miguel Tinker Salas (2007). Venezuela: Hugo Chávez and the Decline of an exceptional Democracy. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 171. ISBN 9780742554566. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
Further reading