The 2025 Irkutsk Oblast gubernatorial election took place on 12–14 September 2025, on common election day. The incumbent governor of Irkutsk Oblast, Igor Kobzev, was re-elected to a second term in office.
Background Then-Deputy Minister of Emergency Situations Igor Kobzev was appointed acting governor of Irkutsk Oblast in December 2019, replacing first-term Communist incumbent Sergey Levchenko. Levchenko resigned over poor relations with federal authorities and lack of response to deadly floods in southern Irkutsk Oblast. Former governor Levchenko initially was looking into challenging Kobzev in the 2020 election, however, regional electoral commission ruled that Levchenko is barred that election as it was caused by his resignation. Kobzev ran for a full term as an independent with the support from United Russia and won the election with 60.79% of the vote, defeating Communist State Duma member Mikhail Shchapov by 35 points. In 2021 Kobzev agreed to lead United Russia for the upcoming Russian legislative election in Irkutsk Oblast, and in November 2021 he officially joined the party.
Kobzev's term as governor was noted by numerous conflicts between the governor and both local and federal elites as well as by a significant drop in Kobzev's own ratings. One of such conflicts spilled out in 2024 in the Bratsk mayoral election between Kobzev who endorsed incumbent mayor Sergey Serebrennikov, while Senator Andrey Chernyshev endorsed his victorious challenger Aleksandr Dubrovin. Kobzev also allegedly damaged relations with billionaire Oleg Deripaska, who owns Irkutsk Oblast enterprises Irkutskenergo, Bratsk and Irkutsk aluminium plants, and Rostec general director Sergey Chemezov, an Irkutsk native. Sources allege Deripaska could endorse Senator Chernyshev against Kobzev, Chemezov is seen close to Legislative Assembly of Irkutsk Oblast speaker Aleksandr Vedernikov, while major local construction tycoons could lend support to former governor Sergey Levchenko.
In February 2025 during a meeting with President Vladimir Putin Governor Kobzev announced his intention to run for a second term and received Putin's endorsement.
Candidates In Irkutsk Oblast candidates for Governor of Irkutsk Oblast can be nominated by registered political parties or by self-nomination. Candidate for Governor of Irkutsk Oblast should be a Russian citizen and at least 30 years old. Candidates for Governor of Irkutsk Oblast should not have a foreign citizenship or residence permit. Each candidate in order to be registered is required to collect at least 5% of signatures of members and heads of municipalities. In addition, self-nominated candidates should collect 0.5% of signatures of Irkutsk Oblast residents. Also gubernatorial candidates present 3 candidacies to the Federation Council and election winner later appoints one of the presented candidates.
Declared Candidate name,political partyOccupationStatusRef.Viktor GalitskovLiberal Democratic Party First Deputy Mayor of Ushakovo Municipality (2023–present)Former Deputy Chairman of the Government of Irkutsk Oblast (2020–2021)RegisteredIgor KobzevUnited Russia Incumbent Governor of Irkutsk Oblast (2019–present)RegisteredSergey LevchenkoCommunist Party Member of State Duma (2000–2003, 2007–2015, 2021–present)Former Governor of Irkutsk Oblast (2015–2019)RegisteredLarisa YegorovaSR–ZP Member of Legislative Assembly of Irkutsk Oblast (2018–present)Former Deputy Chairwoman of the Legislative Assembly (2018–2023)2015 and 2020 gubernatorial candidateRegisteredSergey GagarkinIndependent 2020 gubernatorial candidateDid not fileAleksandr PleskachIndependent Homeowner2020 gubernatorial candidateDid not file
Eliminated in the primary Yulia Akishina (United Russia), community activist Aleksandr Khlivitsky (United Russia), Mayor of Khrebtovaya (2024–present) Aleksey Savelyev (United Russia), Member of Duma of Irkutsk (2009–present), chief energy engineer at the Irkutsk Aviation Plant
Declined Sardana Avksentyeva (New People), Member of State Duma (2021–present) Andrey Chernyshev, Senator from Irkutsk Oblast (2020–present) Yevgeny Sarsenbayev (CPRF), Member of Legislative Assembly of Irkutsk Oblast (2018–present) Andrey Dukhovnikov (LDPR), Member of Legislative Assembly of Irkutsk Oblast (2023–present), 2020 gubernatorial candidate Sergey Serebrennikov, former Mayor of Bratsk (2005–2010, 2014–2024) Mikhail Shchapov (CPRF), Member of State Duma (2016–present), 2020 gubernatorial candidate Aleksandr Vedernikov, Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of Irkutsk Oblast (2020–present)
Candidates for Federation Council Head candidate,political partyCandidates for Federation CouncilStatusIgor KobzevUnited Russia * Kuzma Aldarov, First Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of Irkutsk Oblast (2023–present), Member of the Legislative Assembly (2013–present)* Andrey Chernyshev, incumbent Senator (2020–present) * Natalya Dikusarova, Deputy Chairwoman of the Legislative Assembly of Irkutsk Oblast (2023–present), Member of the Legislative Assembly (2008–present)RegisteredSergey LevchenkoCommunist Party * Vyacheslav Markhayev, Member of State Duma (2011–2015, 2021–present), former Senator (2015–2020)* Olga Nosenko, former Deputy Chairwoman of the Legislative Assembly of Irkutsk Oblast (2018–2023), former Member of the Legislative Assembly (2013–2023) * Ilya Sumarokov, former Member of Legislative Assembly of Irkutsk Oblast (2004–2023), former People's Deputy of the Soviet Union (1989–1991), agribusinessmanRegistered
Finances All sums are in rubles. Financial Report Source Gagarkin Galitskov Kobzev Levchenko Yegorova Final 0 4,235,000 52,357,254 7,595,600 3,907,966
Polls Fieldwork datePolling firm Kobzev Levchenko Yegorova GalitskovNoneLead14 September 20252025 election60.822.78.15.82.738.15–19 August 2025WCIOM71.818.34.03.72.253.5
Results
|- style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" ! style="text-align:left;" colspan=2| Candidate ! style="text-align:left;"| Party ! width="75"|Votes ! width="30"|% |- | style="background-color:"| | style="text-align:left;"| Igor Kobzev (incumbent) | style="text-align:left;"| United Russia | | 60.79 |- | style="background-color:"| | style="text-align:left;"| Sergey Levchenko | style="text-align:left;"| Communist Party | | 22.65 |- | style="background-color:"| | style="text-align:left;"| Larisa Yegorova | style="text-align:left;"| A Just Russia – For Truth | | 8.08 |- | style="background-color:"| | style="text-align:left;"| Viktor Galitskov | style="text-align:left;"| Liberal Democratic Party | | 5.82 |- | style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Valid votes | | 97.33 |- | style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Blank ballots | | 2.67 |- style="font-weight:bold" | style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Total | | 100.00 |- | style="background-color:#E9E9E9;" colspan="6"| |- | style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Turnout | | 33.06 |- | style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Registered voters | | 100.00 |- | colspan="5" style="background-color:#E9E9E9;"| |- style="font-weight:bold" | colspan="4" |Source:
Governor Kobzev re-appointed incumbent Senator Andrey Chernyshev (United Russia) to the Federation Council.
See also 2025 Russian regional elections
References