Parties Cut Spending on 2026 Duma Elections
Political parties spent many times less on their election campaigns than on the previous State Duma elections. From September 18 to 20, Russia will hold elections for the State Duma and regional parliaments, as well as gubernatorial elections in eight regions.
Consensus
- The State Duma elections are scheduled to take place from September 18 to 20, 2026.
- Political parties significantly reduced their spending on the pre-election campaign compared to previous elections.
- United Russia raised the maximum allowed amount of 700 million rubles but spent only one-sixth of it.
- Novye Lyudi raised less than 90 million rubles, a sharp drop from 463 million rubles in the 2021 elections.
- LDPR collected approximately half of the maximum allowed 700 million rubles.
- The party Rodina, which successfully removed Yabloko from the ballot via court, had only 1.85 million rubles in its account.
- Sources describe the campaign as ineffective and lacking public interest.
- The political environment is seen as restrictive, with limited space for political messaging.
Points of divergence
- The campaign is described as the most underfunded in the history of the millennium by political technologist Evgeny Minchenko. — tg_moscowtimes_ru
- A government official in the Central Federal District stated that current conditions—fuel shortages, warehouse fires, drone attacks, and pollution—make discussing topics like birth rate and economy pointless. — tg_moscowtimes_ru
- A Kremlin-linked NGO head said the campaign is worse than in the Soviet era and that 'everyone doesn't care' about the elections. — tg_moscowtimes_ru
- A regional party official stated that the campaign is ineffective because discussing war is forbidden, criticizing governors is risky, and populist rhetoric no longer attracts support. — tg_svobodnieslova
Coverage (2 sources)
- «It doesn't matter to anyone». Russian parties decided not to spend on Duma elections — The Moscow Times
- Worse than in the Soviet Union. Parties spent many times less on the election campaign than on previous Duma elections — Вёрстка