According to official data, United Russia received only 31.1% in the region, with turnout at 48.47%. This result was 26.8% below the party's national average.
The region has always been a problematic one for the ruling party. In the previous State Duma elections it received 34.46% here, but the current result can be described as a catastrophe for the regional authorities: a decline of 3% relative to the previous elections, at a time when United Russia was showing 10% growth nationwide. Consequently, it is the worst result in the country.
This can largely be explained by the extreme unpopularity of the local controversial governor, Georgy Filimonov, who has managed to unite against himself a significant portion of voters, the administrative machine, and the region's largest taxpayer — the Severstal corporation.
Filimonov has unveiled monuments to Stalin, introduced a "dry law" in the region which, however, only led to a boom in bootlegging. He is also known for being able to demand that officials who have displeased him do push-ups right there during a working meeting — along with other controversial initiatives and statements. But the key problem for him is the conflict with Severstal and its head, billionaire Alexei Mordashov.
The corporation essentially controls the entire administrative life of Cherepovets, the region's second city, where its production facilities are located. Filimonov tried to extend his power over the city and made public attacks on the corporation — he accused it of non-payment of taxes, accused the plant of air pollution and "falsification of environmental statistics," and of bringing in migrants.
In addition, after his appointment in October 2023, Filimonov purged people from Severstal — he did not extend the senate term of former governor Oleg Kuvshinnikov, removed the mayor of Cherepovets, Vadim Germanov (a former CEO of Severstal Russian Steel), and nine deputies linked to the plant left the city duma.
It appears that the corporation's response was the voting results in the elections in Cherepovets. The data contain all the classic signs of falsification characteristic of "electoral sultanates" — only their beneficiary was not United Russia, but the CPRF.
In the Cherepovets TEC, United Russia received only 18,433 votes (19.97%), while the CPRF received almost twice as many — 33,999 votes (36.84%). At the same time, the results at 111 out of 119 PECs coincide to within a few percent for all parties, which is impossible in voting without the results being redrawn.
That is, in Cherepovets, the local administrative resource falsified the elections against United Russia in order to spite the governor. How this situation will affect Georgy Filimonov's prospects as head of Vologda Oblast can only be guessed at.
Alongside the State Duma elections, voting in regional elections also took place in the oblast. Six parties passed into the Legislative Assembly: United Russia — 31.98%, CPRF — 25.26%, LDPR — 14.64%, New People — 11.22%, A Just Russia — 6.11%, and the Party of Pensioners — 5.79%.
Among the 17 single-member district candidates, 12 will be from United Russia and five from the CPRF.
In these elections in Cherepovets, the voting results were inverted and drawn according to a template, and the CPRF received 1.5–2 times more votes than United Russia.