Subnational elections reshape Bolivia’s regional power | Elecciones subnacionales redefinen el poder regional en Bolivia

By Erbol:

SUBNATIONAL ELECTIONS

Between emerging alliances and MAS legacies, regional power in Bolivia is being reshaped

The subnational elections have produced a new regional political map, where positions of representation have been distributed among different political forces that will now take center stage in this new political phase. Some alliances have confirmed their emergence at the national level, such as Patria and Libre, while former MAS members remain active under other banners. In between, regional forces with local power bases also persist.

Among the key highlights, the Patria alliance, led by President Rodrigo Paz, emerges as a national actor with victories in La Paz, Beni, and Tarija, as well as second-place finishes in Oruro and Chuquisaca for governorships. In all these cases, the ruling alliance will head to a runoff.

Libre also emerges in this context, with victories in the governorship of Pando and in Santa Cruz with JP Velasco, although the latter is subject to a runoff.

MAS, once the party that dominated the electoral landscape, did not participate in these elections, although its militants achieved victories this Sunday. Such is the case of Leonardo Loza for the governorship of Cochabamba, but there are also other politicians who were once part of MAS, such as César Dockweiler, who won the La Paz mayoralty; Edgar Sánchez, leading for governor of Oruro; as well as René Joaquino and Williams Cervantes, victorious for governor and mayor of Potosí.

By department

In La Paz, a runoff for the governorship is taking shape between Luis Revilla of Patria Sol, who came in first, and a still undefined second place due to the narrow margin between candidates. René Yahuasi of Nueva Generación Patriótica and Antonio Riveros of Innovación Humana are separated by tenths of a point, which will be decided in the official count.

For the La Paz mayoralty, the winner is the former manager of Mi Teleférico, César Dockweiler of Innovación Humana, who despite his past in MAS has now distanced himself from the blue party and from socialism. In El Alto, the likely mayor is communicator Eliser Roca of Unión por el Cambio (UPC), the group led by outgoing governor Santos Quispe.

In Santa Cruz, a runoff for the governorship is shaping up between technology entrepreneur Juan Pablo Velasco of Libre and lawyer Otto Ritter of Santa Cruz Para Todos. Both surpassed Luis Fernando Camacho of the ruling Patria Creemos. Meanwhile, the Santa Cruz mayoralty was decisively won by Mamen Saavedra of Vos.

In Cochabamba, the winner for the governorship is Evo-aligned Leonardo Loza, who, however, must still wait for official results to declare victory in the first round, pending confirmation that he achieved 40% of the vote with a 10% lead over the runner-up. In Cercado, the winner is Manfred Reyes Villa of Súmate, who is seeking another term in office.

In Tarija, the department represented by Rodrigo Paz, his ally Adrián Oliva won the first round for governor, although not by enough to secure the post outright and will face María René Soruco of Camino para el Cambio in a runoff, who assumed the candidacy after the disqualification of Mario Cossío. For the mayoralty of the departmental capital, Paz’s candidate Luciana Campero placed second behind the reelected Jhonny Torrez.

In Chuquisaca, a runoff for the governorship is taking shape between lawyer Luis Ayllón of the Alianza Gente Nueva (AGN) and communicator Franz “Tata” García of Patria Unidos, another candidate aligned with President Paz’s alliance. In Sucre, the likely winner for mayor is Fátima Tardío of AGN.

A runoff for governor is also expected in Oruro, where Édgar Sánchez, formerly of MAS and now a candidate for Jach’a, has the lead but not enough to secure a first-round victory. In the runoff, he will face Óscar Chambi of the Patria Alliance, the same one promoted around the president. The mayoralty of the Oruro capital went to Iván Quispe of Nueva Generación Patriótica, a former councilman known for oversight work shared on social media.

In Potosí, according to the Sirepre, former mayor René Joaquino would win the governorship in the first round with Alianza Social, surpassing 40%. Meanwhile, William Cervantes won the mayoralty of the Villa Imperial under the Movimiento Tercer Sistema. Both have past ties to MAS, one as a senator and the other previously serving as mayor under the blue party.

In Beni, the first-round winner is from the Patria Unidos alliance, the rector of the public university, Jesús “Tito” Egüez, who will face Hugo Vargas of the MNR in a runoff. Meanwhile, the winner of the Trinidad mayoralty is Mauricio Barba of Patria Unidos.

In Pando, engineer and former beauty queen Gabriela de Paiva of the Libre alliance won the governorship with a percentage that allows her to secure victory in the first round. For the Cobija mayoralty, Sirepre gives the lead to Diego Suárez, also of Libre, who has already declared himself the winner.

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