2019 Riojan regional election

The 2019 Riojan regional election was held on Sunday, 26 May 2019, to elect the 10th Parliament of the autonomous community of La Rioja. All 33 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in eleven other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain, as well as the 2019 European Parliament election.

2019 Riojan regional election

← 2015 26 May 2019 2023 →
All 33 seats in the Parliament of La Rioja 17 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	249,863 0.9%
Turnout	164,765 (65.9%) 1.4 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Concha Andreu José Ignacio Ceniceros Pablo Baena Party PSOE PP Cs Leader since 19 October 2014 8 July 2015 9 March 2019 Last election 10 seats, 26.7% 15 seats, 38.6% 4 seats, 10.4% Seats won 15 12 4 Seat change 5 3 0 Popular vote 63,068 53,925 18,807 Percentage 38.7% 33.1% 11.5% Swing 12.0 pp 5.5 pp 1.1 pp   Fourth party   Leader Raquel Romero Party Podemos–IU–Equo Leader since 16 March 2018 Last election 4 seats, 15.4%[a] Seats won 2 Seat change 2 Popular vote 10,844 Percentage 6.6% Swing 8.8 pp
President before election José Ignacio Ceniceros PP Elected President Concha Andreu PSOE

The election saw the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) becoming the most-voted political force in a regional election in La Rioja for the first time since 1991, allowing the party to elect her candidate, Concha Andreu, as new regional president through an alliance with Unidas Podemos. The ruling People's Party (PP), which had governed the region without interruption since 1995, obtained the worst result in its history.

Overview

Electoral system

The Parliament of La Rioja was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of La Rioja, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Riojan Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president.^[1] Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in La Rioja and in full enjoyment of their political rights. Additionally, Riojans abroad were required to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" or expat vote (Spanish: Voto rogado).^[2]

The 33 members of the Parliament of La Rioja were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied regionally.^[1][3]

Election date

The term of the Parliament of La Rioja expired four years after the date of its previous election. Elections to the Parliament were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The previous election was held on 24 May 2015, setting the election date for the Parliament on Sunday, 26 May 2019.^[1][3][4]

The president had the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament of La Rioja and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process, no nationwide election was due and some time requirements were met: namely, that dissolution did not occur either during the first legislative session or within the legislature's last year ahead of its scheduled expiry, nor before one year had elapsed since a previous dissolution. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Parliament was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called. Any snap election held as a result of these circumstances would not alter the period to the next ordinary election, with elected deputies merely serving out what remained of their four-year terms.^[1]

The election to the Parliament of La Rioja was officially triggered on 2 April 2019 after the publication of the election decree in the Official Gazette of La Rioja (BOR), scheduling for the chamber to convene on 20 June.^[5]

Parties and candidates

The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one percent of the electorate in La Rioja, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.^[3][4]

Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:

Candidacy		Parties and alliances	Leading candidate		Ideology	Previous result		Gov.	Ref.
						Vote %	Seats
	PP	List People's Party (PP)		José Ignacio Ceniceros	Conservatism Christian democracy	38.6%	15
	PSOE	List Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)		Concha Andreu	Social democracy	26.7%	10
	Podemos– IU–Equo	List We Can (Podemos) United Left (IU) – Communist Party of La Rioja (PCE–LR) – The Dawn. Marxist Organization OM (La Aurora (om)) – Republican Left (IR) – Feminist Party of Spain (PFE) Equo (Equo)		Raquel Romero	Left-wing populism Direct democracy Democratic socialism	15.4% [a]	4
	Cs	List Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (Cs)		Pablo Baena	Liberalism	10.4%	4
	PR+	List Riojan Party (PR+)		Rubén Antoñanzas	Regionalism Progressivism	4.5%	0
	Vox	List Vox (Vox)		Ignacio Asín	Right-wing populism Ultranationalism National conservatism	—

Opinion polls

The table below lists voting intention estimates in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading party's colour. If a tie ensues, this is applied to the figures with the highest percentages. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the parties with the highest percentages in a poll. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 17 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of La Rioja.

Color key:

  Poll conducted after legal ban on opinion polls

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout									Lead
2019 regional election	26 May 2019	—	65.9	33.1 12	38.7 15	[b]	11.5 4	4.6 0	[b]	6.6 2	3.9 0	5.6
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 1]	22–23 May 2019	?	?	25.3 9	32.4 12	[b]	16.7 6	6.3 2	[b]	10.6 3	5.4 1	7.1
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 1]	21–22 May 2019	?	?	25.6 9	32.6 12	[b]	16.4 6	6.4 2	[b]	10.4 3	5.2 1	7.0
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 2]	20–21 May 2019	?	?	25.9 9	32.2 12	[b]	16.0 6	6.7 2	[b]	10.6 3	5.2 1	6.3
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 3]	19–20 May 2019	?	?	25.4 9	32.1 11	[b]	16.1 6	7.0 2	[b]	10.9 4	5.1 1	6.7
NC Report/La Razón[p 4][p 5][p 6]	19 May 2019	?	?	26.2 9	32.1 11	[b]	? 5	? 2	[b]	? 4	? 2	5.9
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 7]	16–19 May 2019	?	?	25.2 9	32.2 11	[b]	16.5 6	6.8 2	[b]	11.1 4	4.9 1	7.0
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 8]	13–16 May 2019	?	?	23.6 8	30.9 11	[b]	18.3 6	6.7 2	[b]	12.0 4	6.0 2	7.3
GAD3/Diario La Rioja[p 9]	14–15 May 2019	800	?	29.2 10/11	37.5 13/14	[b]	11.5 3/4	5.6 1/2	[b]	7.8 2/3	6.0 1/2	8.3
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 10]	10–13 May 2019	?	?	22.8 8	29.7 10	[b]	19.2 7	6.6 2	[b]	12.6 4	6.6 2	6.9
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 11]	7–10 May 2019	?	?	22.0 7	30.3 11	[b]	19.9 7	6.3 2	[b]	12.4 4	6.1 2	8.3
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 12]	4–7 May 2019	?	?	21.3 7	29.8 11	[b]	20.9 7	5.5 2	[b]	12.5 4	6.4 2	8.5
NueveCuatroUno[p 13]	29 Apr–5 May 2019	800	?	29.5– 30.0 11	32.0– 34.0 13	[b]	10.5– 11.2 4	6.8– 7.4 2	[b]	9.5– 11.0 3	3.7 0	2.5– 4.0
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 14]	29 Apr–4 May 2019	?	?	22.3 8	29.8 11	[b]	20.9 7	5.1 1	[b]	12.5 4	5.8 2	7.5
April 2019 general election	28 Apr 2019	—	73.4	26.5 (9)	31.7 (11)	[b]	17.8 (6)	1.2 (0)	[b]	11.8 (4)	9.0 (3)	5.2
CIS[p 15][p 16]	21 Mar–23 Apr 2019	295	?	30.9 11/13	36.0 12/14	[b]	10.5 3/4	7.4 2/3	[b]	7.8 2/3	2.3 0	5.1
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 17]	31 Mar–7 Apr 2019	?	?	21.0 8	27.4 10	[b]	14.9 5	6.3 2	[b]	12.2 4	11.7 4	6.4
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 18]	24–31 Mar 2019	?	?	20.3 7	27.5 10	[b]	15.6 6	6.6 2	[b]	12.1 4	11.8 4	7.2
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 19]	17–24 Mar 2019	?	?	20.6 7	28.3 10	[b]	15.7 6	6.4 2	[b]	11.7 4	11.5 4	7.7
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 20]	10–17 Mar 2019	?	?	21.1 7	26.8 10	[b]	14.9 5	6.0 2	[b]	11.8 4	13.6 5	5.7
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 21]	3–10 Mar 2019	?	?	20.7 7	26.4 10	[b]	15.6 5	6.1 2	[b]	12.0 4	13.5 5	5.7
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 22]	22 Feb–3 Mar 2019	?	?	20.3 7	26.2 9	[b]	16.1 6	6.2 2	[b]	12.1 4	13.2 5	5.9
SyM Consulting[p 23][p 24]	3–6 May 2018	1,300	72.5	34.7 13/14	23.6 9	10.2 3/4	18.6 7	4.8 0	4.5 0	–	–	11.1
NueveCuatroUno[p 25]	2–6 May 2018	973	?	30.0 10	27.4 10	8.2 3	25.5 9	5.1 1	–	–	–	2.6
NueveCuatroUno[p 26]	8–13 May 2017	448	?	38.8 13/14	24.8 8	11.7 4	11.2 4	8.6 3	4.8 0/1	–	–	14.0
2016 general election	26 Jun 2016	—	70.6	42.6 (15)	24.3 (8)	[b]	14.0 (5)	–	[b]	16.6 (5)	0.2 (0)	18.3
2015 general election	20 Dec 2015	—	72.4	38.3 (14)	23.7 (8)	15.8 (6)	15.1 (5)	–	4.2 (0)	–	–	14.6
2015 regional election	24 May 2015	—	67.3	38.6 15	26.7 10	11.2 4	10.4 4	4.5 0	4.2 0	–	–	11.9

Results

← Summary of the 26 May 2019 Parliament of La Rioja election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	63,068	38.67	+11.93	15	+5
	People's Party (PP)	53,925	33.06	–5.56	12	–3
	Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (Cs)	18,807	11.53	+1.10	4	±0
	United We Can–United Left–Equo (Podemos–IU–Equo)1	10,844	6.65	–8.72	2	–2
	Riojan Party (PR+)	7,512	4.61	+0.16	0	±0
	Vox (Vox)	6,314	3.87	New	0	±0
	Animalist Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA)	1,078	0.66	–0.08	0	±0
Blank ballots		1,555	0.95	–0.85
Total		163,103			33	±0
Valid votes		163,103	98.99	+0.96
Invalid votes		1,662	1.01	–0.96
Votes cast / turnout		164,765	65.94	–1.35
Abstentions		85,098	34.06	+1.35
Registered voters		249,863
Sources[6][7]
Footnotes: 1 United We Can–United Left–Equo results are compared to the combined totals of We Can and Change La Rioja–United Left–Equo in the 2015 election.

Popular vote PSOE   38.67% PP   33.06% Cs   11.53% Unidas Podemos   6.65% PR+   4.61% Vox   3.87% PACMA   0.66% Blank ballots   0.95%

Seats PSOE   45.45% PP   36.36% Cs   12.12% Unidas Podemos   6.06%

Aftermath

Further information: Andreu government

Investiture Concha Andreu (PSOE)
Ballot →		16 July 2019	18 July 2019
Required majority →		17 out of 33 N	Simple N
	Yes • PSOE (15) • IU (1)	16 / 33	16 / 33
	No • PP (12) • Cs (4) • Podemos (1)	17 / 33	17 / 33
	Abstentions	0 / 33	0 / 33
	Absentees	0 / 33	0 / 33
Sources[8][9][7]

Investiture Concha Andreu (PSOE)
Ballot →		27 August 2019
Required majority →		17 out of 33 Y
	Yes • PSOE (15) • IU (1) • Podemos (1)	17 / 33
	No • PP (12) • Cs (4)	16 / 33
	Abstentions	0 / 33
	Absentees	0 / 33
Sources[7]

Notes

1. Results for Podemos (11.2%, 4 seats) and CR–IU–Equo (4.2%, 0 seats) in the 2015 election.
2. Within Unidas Podemos.