The 2004 regional elections of

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

were held on 31 October 2004 to elect 22

governors A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and 2 metropolitan mayors for a four-year term beginning in 2004 and ending in 2008, when the next regional elections were held. The elections were originally scheduled for 26 September 2004, but faced technical issues and an application for annulment requested by the opposition, and were held under high political pressure after the events of the

recall referendum A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which, in certain polities, voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of off ...

of August 2004. The ongoing political crisis in the country and the proximity of the two electoral processes marked the environment of the elections, which were won by the candidates supported by the president,

Hugo Chavez Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on a ...

. A total 1,577 political organizations participated in the elections; however, abstention levels reached 52%. As a result, the opposition held two of the 22 governments but lost the Caracas and capital district mayorships.

Henrique Salas Römer Henrique Salas Römer (born 17 April 1936 in Puerto Cabello, Carabobo, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan economist from Yale University, politically active in Venezuela since 1983. Political career He was elected to congress as a member of the COPEI ...

, who ran as a presidential candidate in 1998, lost the government of

Carabobo , anthem = '' Himno del Estado Carabobo'' , image_map = Carabobo in Venezuela.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location within Venezuela , pushpin_map = , pushpin_map_ ...

to . Claudio Fermin, who run for precedency in the elections of 2000, had no success at the metropolitan mayorship of Caracas, losing to

Juan Barreto Juan Alejandro Barreto Cipriani (born 1959) is a politician in Venezuela. He was mayor of Caracas from 2004 until 2008. Juan Barreto belongs to the REDES party. Career Congressperson Juan Barreto entered the political scene with his election to ...

. Opposition candidate and incumbent governor

Enrique Mendoza Enrique Mendoza (born 11 August 1945) is a Venezuelan politician. From 1989 until 1996, Mendoza was the mayor of Sucre Municipality, Miranda of Caracas; he was governor of Miranda state from 1995 to 2004, being re-elected in 1998 and 2000. In 2 ...

, who was considered as a possible future presidential candidate, lost the elections of the Miranda state to

Diosdado Cabello Diosdado Cabello Rondón (born 15 April 1963Vicepresidencia de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela also drug lord of Venezuela , atentamente alcardonDiosdado Cabello Rondón, accessed 19 April 2010) is a Venezuelan politician and current mem ...

Manuel Rosales Manuel Antonio Rosales Guerrero (born December 12, 1952, in Santa Bárbara del Zulia) is a Venezuelan educator and politician, current governor of Zulia, Venezuela's most populated state. He was the most prominent opposition candidate in the ...

, who would later run for presidency in the elections of 2006, became the governor of the

Zulia Zulia State ( es, Estado Zulia, ; Wayuu: ''Mma’ipakat Suuria'') is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. As of the 2011 census, it has a population of 3,704,404, the largest population among Venezuela's states. It ...

state.

Candidates

Following, the list of three main candidates according to their political affiliation (government, opposition and dissident or independent) ordered by number of votes attained. The political affiliation is determined by the political parties supporting each candidate. For the 2004 elections, government candidates were supported by the

Fifth Republic Movement The Fifth Republic Movement (Spanish: ''Movimiento V uintaRepública'', MVR) was a socialist political party in Venezuela. It was founded in July 1997, following a national congress of the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200, to support the ca ...

(MVR) party; opposition candidates were supported by either Democratic Action (AD), Justice First Movement (PJ),

A New Era A New Era ( es, Un Nuevo Tiempo, UNT) is a centre-left political party in Venezuela. It received 11% of the vote in the 2008 regional elections. The party arose in Zulia State, Venezuela's most populous, and remains far stronger in its home r ...

(UNT), or the Political Electoral Independent Organization Committee (COPEI) party; and independent candidates were mostly supported by regional parties.

Metropolitan mayors

Governors

References

;General * ;Specific

Candidates

Metropolitan mayors

Governors

References

Further reading