Gylian presidential election, 2014

Gylian presidential election, 2014

26–27 July 2014
Turnout	93,5%
Nominee Carmen Dell'Orefice Electra Galanou Party Ind NB Final vote 9.064.506 6.093.531 Percentage 59,8% 40,2%
Results of the final preference distribution by region   Carmen Dell'Orefice   Electra Galanou
President before election Carmen Dell'Orefice President after election Carmen Dell'Orefice

A presidential elections was held in Gylias on 22 January 2014.

Incumbent Carmen Dell'Orefice was re-elected, defeating National Bloc candidate Electra Galanou.

Procedure

The election was held through instant-runoff voting.

Candidates were registered with Elections Gylias in accordance with normal procedures. They could either be nominated by a political party or electoral bloc, civic organisations, or self-nomination as independents.

Candidates

Candidate		Nominator		Office(s) held	Details
Carmen Dell'Orefice			Independent	President of Gylias (since 2010)	Campaigned on promotion of aristerokratia.
Kaori Kawashima			Liberal Union–Ensemble	Deputy Prime Minister of Gylias (2008–2012)	Campaigned as the main liberal candidate.
Electra Galanou			National Bloc	Chief executive of Omicron Group (since 1961)	Campaigned on promotion of economic nationalism and disability rights.
Keie Nanei			Independent	None	Campaigned on a satirical platform.
Amanda Leloup			OMFLG–ACFEN	Governor of Nezyál (1970–1978)	Campaigned on promotion of francité.

Results

Candidate		Nominator	First count	%	Final count	%
	Carmen Dell'Orefice	Independent	5.030.469	30,2%	9.064.506	59,8%
	Kaori Kawashima	LU–ENS	3.531.323	21,2%
	Electra Galanou	NB	3.081.579	18,5%	6.093.531	40,2%
	Keie Nanei	Independent	2.416.957	14,5%
	Amanda Leloup	OMFLG–ACFEN	2.398.634	14,4%
Others/write-ins			199.886	1,2%
Total			16.657.183	100%	15.158.037	100%
Registered voters and turnout			18.178.744	93,5%

Maps

First count pluralities by region

Final count majorities by region

Analysis

Having defeated the sitting president Laura Varnaþ in 2010, incumbent Carmen Dell'Orefice went into the election in a strong position. She was one of Gylias' most popular presidents, and her "silver fox" reputation and identification with aristerokratia were huge advantages. She was particularly ecstatic that, while Gylias' oldest president, she enjoyed great popularity among young voters, who admired her elegance and commitment to fighting ageism.

The Progressive Alliance did not nominate a candidate after Laura's loss in 2010. Instead, leftists swung their support behind Carmen's re-election. The National Bloc prepared to sit out the election after Yseult Roxane Danesh's poor showing in 2010. However, Electra Galanou, who had previously finished third in 1986, chose to take up the conservative mantle.

Whether to enter the presidential field caused some tension within the Marie-Agnès Delaunay government. The incumbent Deputy Prime Minister Mielikki Salonen wished to run for President. As one of the few "First Republic" politicians in cabinet, she felt marginalised by the Latte Revolution and Marie-Agnès' personalised leadership style. She saw running for President as a way to regain some of the profile she'd enjoyed under Mathilde Vieira. However, Marie-Agnès Delaunay opposed this idea. She had a great relationship with Carmen as President, and dismissed Mielikki's presidential aspirations as a "vanity project". Marie-Agnès focused more on deepening the ENS' dominance at the municipal and regional level.

Ultimately, Marie-Agnès prevailed. Mielikki agreed to postpone her run until the next election. Instead, Marie-Agnès had the ENS endorse Liberal Union candidate Kaori Kawashima, who had been Deputy Prime Minister in her first cabinet. The LU found itself somewhat adrift during the political transformations of the Latte Revolution. The ENS endorsement was a calculated move for Marie-Agnès. She didn't expect Kaori to win, and preferred if Carmen was re-elected. The joint endorsement served to maintain good relations with the LU.

Voters also had colourful options in columnist Keie Nanei (a returning candidate from 2003) and francité stalwart Amanda Leloup.

In the first round, Carmen obtained a strong plurality of 30,2% of first preference votes, and carried 6 regions. Kaori actually finished second, to her surprise. Electra was in third place with 18,5% first preference votes, but only one plurality in Nerveiík-Iárus-Daláyk. Keie's fourth place finish and 14,5% of first preference votes was a 4,3% decline from her 2003 performance, but she managed to win pluralities in Mişeyáke, Nauras, and Tandar. Amanda trailed only 0,1% behind, and retained pluralities in Nezyál, Herlan, and Aðuna.

For the second time since 2007, vote transfers changed the final contest. Enough of Keie's voters transferred to Electra to cause her to overtake Kaori. This in turn caused Carmen to gain transfers from Kaori and Amanda's voters, leading to a lopsided final victory. Carmen defeated Electra by nearly 3 million votes, obtaining a larger majority than Gianna Calderara in 2003, and won majorities in 14 regions. Electra carried only 2 regions in the final round, the poorest-performing runner-up since 1975.