2018 Autuzian primary election

2018 Autuzian primary election

1 July 2018 (1st round) 15 July 2018 (2nd round)
Opinion polls
Turnout	78.62% (first round) 0.66% 75.91% (second round) 1.92%
Nominee Houbêrt Louxhî Vinçant Wiyåme Party All-Councilist Union All-Councilist Union Popular vote high number less high number Percentage 53.91% 46.09%
Primary before election Vinçant Wiyåme All-Councilist Union Elected Primary Houbêrt Louxhî All-Councilist Union

Primary elections were held in Auzance on 1 and 15 July, 2018. As no candidate won a majority of votes in the first round on 1 July, a runoff was held, in which Houbêrt Louxhî unexpectedly defeated incumbent Vinçant Wiyåme and was thus elected as Premier of Auzance. Upon his defeat to Louxhî, Wiyåme became the second Autuzian Premier to lose re-election in history. The centre-left's victory in this election stood in stark contrast to the legislative elections before and after it, following Labour's return to power in the legislature in 2016.

In the first round, Wiyåme led with 34.9% of votes, followed by Louxhî with 26.2%, with the Nationals' Vervî receiving 14.2% of the vote - Louxhî's performance, in spite of the party's relative unity nationally and in the legislature, came partially as a result of his popularity and recognition as Prime Minister, as well as Wiyåme's declining popularity as the contest continued. Leading into the second round two weeks later, Wiyåme suffered poor reception at a string of national debates, and Louxhî gained popularity as a Centrist Councilist and unity candidate, compared to Wiyåme's fractuous relationship with the Left-Councilists in his own left-wing councilist party, who made up the majority of members. Withstanding this, Louxhî was not predicted to win the second round by the majority of pollsters. As a result of Louxhî's victory, he took office the following day at midnight, ending incumbent Wiyåme's term.