A regional election was held in the Valencian Community on 28 April 2019 to elect the 10th of the autonomous community. All 99 seats in the were up for election. It was held concurrently with the April 2019 Spanish general election. This was the first early regional election ever held in the Valencian Community, as well as the first Valencian election to not be held concurrently with any other regional election.
The Socialist Party of the Valencian Country (PSPV) and Coalició Compromís formed a minority coalition government in 2015, relying on confidence and supply support from Podemos, an arrangement which was dubbed the "Botànic Agreement" and forced the governing People's Party (PP) into opposition after dominating Valencian politics during the previous 20 years. The political landscape experienced some changes during the next four years, with the PP losing support to the emerging liberal Citizens (Cs) party and the right-wing populist Vox, while on the left, United Left of the Valencian Country (EUPV) formed an electoral alliance with Podemos called Unides Podem.
The election resulted in a reduced majority for the left-wing parties. The PSPV emerged as the largest party for the first time since 1991, whereas the PP suffered the worst result in its history. Cs and Vox benefited from the PP's losses, the latter entering the for the first time. Compromís and Unides Podem had disappointing finishes, losing seats and ending up in fourth and sixth place, respectively. These results led to a continuation of the 2015 Botànic Agreement, though this time Podemos and EUPV joined the government as full coalition partners.
Background The 2015 regional election had resulted in the People's Party's (PP) expulsion from the regional government after a 20-year uninterrupted rule. Amid a string of corruption scandals that kept shocking the party and brought down many of its historical figureheads apparently involved in the scandals, the regional PP found itself leaderless and in a precarious situation.
'Operation Taula', a major police operation in Valencia that took place on 26 January 2016, resulted in the arrest of several former and current high-ranking members from the regional PP branch, as a consequence of the ongoing investigation on the PP's corruption in the region during its time in government. Judicial investigation also pointed to former long-time Mayor of Valencia Rita Barberá as a participant in the scandal; her arrest or imputation only being prevented by the fact she had legal protection as an incumbent senator. A few days later, on 1 February, all PP city councillors in the city of Valencia were charged for a possible money laundering offense, including new local party leader Alfonso Novo, as well as most members of Barberá's late government.
Overview Under the 1982 Statute of Autonomy, the were the unicameral legislature of the Valencian Community, having legislative power in devolved matters, as well as the ability to grant or withdraw confidence from a regional president.. The electoral and procedural rules were supplemented by national law provisions..
Date The term of the expired four years after the date of their previous election, unless they were dissolved earlier. The election decree was required to be issued no later than 25 days before the scheduled expiration date of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Journal of the Valencian Government (DOGV), with election day taking place 54 days after the decree's publication.; ( by ); . The previous election was held on 24 May 2015, which meant that the chamber's term would have expired on 24 May 2019. The election decree was required to be published in the DOGV no later than 30 April 2019, setting the latest possible date for election day on 23 June 2019.
The regional president had the prerogative to dissolve the at any given time and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process.; . In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot, the were to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called.; .
The were officially dissolved on 5 March 2019 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the DOGV, setting election day for 28 April and scheduling for the chamber to reconvene on 16 May..
Electoral system Voting for the was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered in the Valencian Community and with full political rights, provided that they had not been deprived of the right to vote by a final sentence.; ( by ). Additionally, non-resident citizens were required to apply for voting, a system known as "begged" voting ()..
The had a minimum of 99 seats, with the electoral law fixing its size at that number. All were elected in three multi-member constituencies—corresponding to the provinces of Alicante, Castellón and Valencia, each of which was assigned an initial minimum of 20 seats and the remaining 39 distributed in proportion to population (with the seat-to-population ratio in any given province not exceeding three times that of any other)—using the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a five percent-threshold of valid votes (including blank ballots) regionally.; .
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each constituency was entitled the following seats:.
Seats Constituencies 40 Valencia 35 Alicante 24 Castellón
The law did not provide for by-elections to fill vacant seats; instead, any vacancies arising after the proclamation of candidates and during the legislative term were filled by the next candidates on the party lists or, when required, by designated substitutes. ( by ).
Outgoing parliament The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of dissolution.
+ Parliamentary composition in March 2019 Groups Parties Legislators Seats Total People's Parliamentary Group PP 30 30 Socialist Parliamentary Group PSPV–PSOE 23 23 Commitment Parliamentary Group Compromís 19 19 We Can Parliamentary Group Podemos 12 12 Citizens Parliamentary Group Cs 9 9 Non-Inscrits Agermanats 4 6 INDEP 2
Parties and candidates The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, alliances and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form an alliance were required to inform the relevant electoral commission within 10 days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list. ( by ). Additionally, a balanced composition of men and women was required in the electoral lists, so that candidates of either sex made up at least 40 percent of the total composition..
Below is a list of the main parties and alliances which contested the election:
Candidacy Parties andalliances Leading candidate Ideology Previous result Vote % Seats PP Isabel Bonig ConservatismChristian democracy 26.6% PSPV–PSOE Ximo Puig Social democracy 20.6% Compromís Mónica Oltra ValencianismProgressivismGreen politics 18.5% UnidesPodem–EUPV Rubén Martínez Dalmau Left-wing populismDirect democracyDemocratic socialism 15.7% Cs Toni Cantó Liberalism 12.5% Vox José María Llanos Right-wing populismUltranationalismNational conservatism 0.4%
Campaign Party slogans Original slogan English translation PP « Correctamente política » "Politics correctly" PSPV–PSOE « Seguir sumando »« Seguir sumant » "Keep adding" Compromís « Imparables » "Unstoppable" Cs « ¡Vamos Ciudadanos! » "Let's go Citizens!" Unides Podem–EUPV « La historia la escribes tú » "History is written by you" Vox « Valencia por España » "Valencia for Spain"
Debates + 2019 Valencian regional election debates Date Organizer(s) Moderator(s) PP PSPV Compr. Cs UPodemos Vox Audience 12 April Cadena SER Bernardo Guzmán NI — 17 April RTVE Inma Canet NI 11.5% 25 April À Punt Jessica Crespo NI 4.1%
Opinion polls The tables below list opinion polling results 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.
Voting intention estimates The table below lists weighted voting intention estimates. Refusals are generally excluded from the party vote percentages, while question wording and the treatment of "don't know" responses and those not intending to vote may vary between polling organisations. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 50 seats were required for an absolute majority in the .