Clean sweep for New Democracy in local elections nationwide

According to official Interior Ministry returns, candidates supported by New Democracy secured a clear lead in six of the seven prefectural run-offs today

Main opposition conservative New Democracy has scored its greatest victory ever in regional and municipal elections, winning 11 of the country's prefectures - including a lansdlide two-thirds of the popular vote for New Democracy-backed Yorgos Patoulis in the enormous Attica Prefecture, which with 3.7mn residents constitutes one-third of Greece’s population - and a landslide victory with two-thirds of the vote for Kostas Bakoyannis in the Athens Mayoral race.
Though ruling SYRIZA never had strong organisation in local government, and there were very few party members in municipal and regional races (Dourou was the prime exception), the universal defeat of candidates it backed was considered yet another harbinger of a New Democracy landslide victory in the 7 July general election.
According to official Interior Ministry returns, candidates supported by New Democracy secured a clear lead in six of the seven prefectural run-offs today between the two top candidates in races in which no candidate garnered an absolute majority of the popular vote in the first round on 26 May.
In the Attica Prefecture, Patoulis (until now the Mayor of Marousi and the current president of the Athens Medical Asssociation) garnered 65.8 percent of the vote compared to incumbent Rena Dourou’s 34.2 percent.
Dourou as the highest ranking politician was blamed for the botched management of the deadly Mati wildfire of July, 2018, even though the Fire Service, Greek Police, and the General Secretariat of Civil Protection played a major role in the mismanagement of thre disaster.
Dourou’s victory in 2014 presaged SYRIZA’s rise to power in January, 2015.
In the Prefecture of Western Greece New Democracy-backed candidate Nektarios Farmakis (with 56.4 percent of the vote) defeated centre-left Movement for Change candidate and incumbent Apostolos (43.6 percent).
The support of former Pasok president Evangelos Venizelos for the New Democracy-backed candidate in violation of the party line was a key factor in Movement for Change (Pasok) leader Fofi Genninata to sideline him, which led to his 1 June decision to leave the party.
Venizelos, who favoured a post-general election coalition of the centre-left Movement for Change with New Democracy, declared that Gennimatas’ political strategy will lead the party to become an appendage.
Movement for Change MPs and cadres are divided over whether to collaborate after the elections with New Democracy or SYRIZA
In the Peloponnese Prefecture, New Democracy-backed Panagiotis Nikas garnered 52.7 percent of the vote, compared to 39.9 percent for incumbent and former New Democracy MP Petros Tatoulis.