Breaking News Analysis: Conservatives Sweep the Low-Turnout Local Elections

The core conservative voters carried the elections held just three months after the presidential election.

Breaking News Analysis: Conservatives Sweep the Low-Turnout Local Elections

Image: Local Election vote counts as of 11:39 p.m. KST. Credit: Daum.net.

In the Local Elections 지방선거 that was held only three months after the hard-fought presidential election, the ruling People Power Party 국민의힘 is on track to win 13 out of 17 of South Korea's largest local jurisdictions in a thoroughgoing victory.

Among the 17 provincial governors and metropolitan cities - the highest local jurisdictions of South Korea that serve as the barometer for Local Elections - the opposition Democratic Party 민주당 could only salvage the traditional strongholds of Gwangju 광주, Jeollabuk-do Province 전라북도, Jeollanam-do Province 전라남도 and Jeju-do Province 제주도.

Particularly stinging for the liberals are the defeats in all three major jurisdictions in the Seoul metro area - Seoul 서울, Incheon 인천 and Gyeonggi-do Province 경기도 - where urban white collar votes traditionally formed a solid base of support for the Democratic Party. Former Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung 이재명 전 민주당 대선후보, however, won the Assembly by-election in the Incheon Gyeyang B 인천 계양 을 district.

The final turnout for the Local Elections was 50.9%, the second-lowest turnout for Local Elections and lowest since 2002. The low turnout likely reflects the fatigue from the presidential election, which was the closest in South Korean history. With low-engagement and moderate voters staying home, the core conservative supporters - voters who are older than 60 years old - largely determined the elections.

UPDATE: In a stunning upset, the Democratic Party's Kim Dong-yeon 김동연 edged out a win against People Power Party's Kim Eun-hye 김은혜 with 0.06% margin after more than 13 hours of counting the votes. Please read the next week's TBR newsletter for more analysis.


Share Tweet Send
0 Comments
Loading...
You've successfully subscribed to The Blue Roof
Great! Next, complete checkout for full access to The Blue Roof
Welcome back! You've successfully signed in
Success! Your account is fully activated, you now have access to all content.