2025 Leningrad Oblast gubernatorial election

Vice Governor of Leningrad Oblast Aleksandr Drozdenko was elected Governor of Leningrad Oblast in May 2012 by the Legislative Assembly of Leningrad Oblast, replacing retiring three-term incumbent Valery Serdyukov.^[1] Drozdenko resigned in May 2015 triggering an early gubernatorial election, which he overwhelmingly won in September 2015 with 82.10% of the vote.^[2] Governor Drozdenko ran for a third term in 2020 and won it with an even larger 83.61%.^[3]

Initially Governor of Leningrad Oblast was limited for just two consecutive terms so Drozdenko would have been term-limited in 2025 (his 2012–2015 term was reset). However, in December 2021 "On Common Principles of Organisation of Public Authority in the Subjects of the Russian Federation" law was enacted, which lifted term limits for Russian governors.^[4] Initially Aleksandr Drozdenko asked Legislative Assembly of Leningrad Oblast to uphold the term-limit and the Assembly decided not to amend the regional law.^[5] However, in December 2023 Legislative Assembly nonetheless lifted term limits, which allowed Drozdenko to seek another term in 2025.^[6]

In March 2025 during a meeting with President Vladimir Putin Governor Drozdenko announced his intention to run for a fourth term and received Putin's endorsement.^[7]

In Leningrad Oblast candidates for Governor of Leningrad Oblast can be nominated only by registered political parties. Candidate for Governor of Leningrad Oblast should be a Russian citizen and at least 30 years old. Candidates for Governor of Leningrad Oblast should not have a foreign citizenship or residence permit. Each candidate in order to be registered is required to collect at least 7% of signatures of members and heads of municipalities.^[8] Also gubernatorial candidates present 3 candidacies to the Federation Council and election winner later appoints one of the presented candidates.

Candidate name, political party			Occupation	Status	Ref.
Aleksandr Drozdenko United Russia			Incumbent Governor of Leningrad Oblast (2012–present)	Registered	[7][9]
Andrey Lebedev Liberal Democratic Party			Member of Legislative Assembly of Leningrad Oblast (2011–present) Former Member of State Duma (2008–2011) 2015 and 2020 gubernatorial candidate	Registered	[10][11]
Sergey Lisovsky The Greens			Journalist Ecological activist	Registered	[12]
Sergey Malinkovich Communists of Russia			Member of Altai Krai Legislative Assembly (2021–present) Chairman of the Communists of Russia party (2022–present) Perennial candidate 2024 presidential candidate	Registered	[13][14]
Igor Novikov SR–ZP			Member of Magadan Oblast Duma (2005–present) Businessman	Registered	[10][15]
Larisa Mukhina Communist Party			Member of Koltushi Council of Deputies (2023–present) Ecological activist	Failed to qualify	[10][16]
Aleksey Fedorov Rodina			Member of Murino Council of Deputies (2019–present) Homeowners association chairman	Did not file	[17]
Viktor Perov Party of Social Protection			Former Member of Slantsy Council of Deputies (2005–2014) Perennial candidate 2015 Communists of Russia gubernatorial candidate 2019 Saint Petersburg gubernatorial candidate	Did not file	[18][19]
Maksim Vishnevsky Civic Initiative			Homeowners association chairman	Did not file	[20]

• Mikhail Makarov (United Russia), Member of Legislative Assembly of Leningrad Oblast (2020–present)^[21]

• Nikolay Kuzmin (CPRF), Member of Legislative Assembly of Leningrad Oblast (2007–2014, 2016–present), former Member of State Duma (2014–2016), 2015 gubernatorial candidate^[22]

All sums are in rubles.