The 2026 Penza Oblast gubernatorial election took place on 18–20 September 2026, on common election day, to elect the Governor of Penza Oblast, coinciding with the 2026 Russian legislative election. Incumbent Governor Oleg Melnichenko was re-elected for a second term in office.
Background Then-Governor of Penza Oblast Ivan Belozertsev was arrested in March 2021, six months after winning re-election for a second full term with 78.72% of the vote, for taking a 31 million rubles bribe from former Senator Boris Shpigel. President of Russia Vladimir Putin sacked Belozertsev for the "loss of trust" and appointed Senator Oleg Melnichenko as acting Governor of Penza Oblast. Melnichenko easily won an election for a full term in September 2021 with 72.38% of the vote. In January 2024 former governor Belozertsev was found guilty of taking bribes and illegal possession of weapons and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Melnichenko is a well-known politician in Penza Oblast who previously held high-ranking positions in the regional government and Volga Federal District apparatus. However, his gubernatorial term was largely unremarkable with Melnichenko focusing on transportation and utilities infrastructure refurbishment, increased investments into the social sphere and anticorruption investigations. In preparation for a new term governor Melnichenko made minor adjustments in his cabinet in 2025.
Candidates In Penza Oblast candidates for governor of Penza Oblast can be nominated only by registered political parties. A candidate for Governor of Penza Oblast should be a Russian citizen and at least 30 years old. Candidates for Governor of Penza Oblast should not have a foreign citizenship or residence permit. Each candidate in order to be registered is required to collect at least 8% of the signatures of municipal deputies and heads of municipalities. 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.Pavel KulikovLiberal Democratic Party Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of Penza Oblast (2022–present)RegisteredMikhail LisinA Just Russia Member of Penza City Duma (2024–present)Law firm directorRegisteredOleg MelnichenkoUnited Russia Incumbent Governor of Penza Oblast (2021–present)RegisteredOleg ShalyapinCommunist Party Deputy Chairman of the Penza City Duma (2019–present)Member of the City Duma (2014–present)2020 and 2021 gubernatorial candidateRegisteredViktor YeroshenkoParty of Pensioners Rector of Institute of Regional Development of Penza Oblast (2025–present)Registered
Candidates for Federation Council Gubernatorial candidate,political partyCandidates for Federation CouncilStatusPavel KulikovLiberal Democratic Party * Anna Mikhalishcheva, aide to State Duma member Vladimir Koshelev* Aleksey Molebnov, document specialist, community activist* Aleksandr Vasilyev, Member of Penza City Duma (2024–present)RegisteredMikhail LisinA Just Russia * Igor Dmitriyevsky, financial specialist* Marina Rodina, aide to Penza City Duma member* Daniil Yunin, community activistRegisteredOleg MelnichenkoUnited Russia * , Member of Legislative Assembly of Penza Oblast (2007–present), president of Penza State University (2026–present)* Andrey Kibitkin, oblast clinical hospital chief doctor* Nikolay Kondratyuk, incumbent Senator (2021–present)RegisteredOleg ShalyapinCommunist Party * , former Member of State Duma (1996–1999), gas energy executive* Oksana Milayeva, Deputy Minister of Education of Penza Oblast (2021–present)* Vladimir Smirnov, Member of Penza City Duma (2019–present), lending businessmanRegisteredViktor YeroshenkoParty of Pensioners * Denis Averyanov, HR specialist* Kirill Chernov, media specialist* Sergey Shurygin, custodianRegistered
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;"| Oleg Melnichenko (incumbent) | style="text-align:left;"| United Russia | | 70.80 |- | style="background-color:"| | style="text-align:left;"| Oleg Shalyapin | style="text-align:left;"| Communist Party | | 13.09 |- | style="background-color:"| | style="text-align:left;"| Pavel Kulikov | style="text-align:left;"| Liberal Democratic Party | | 6.76 |- | style="background-color:"| | style="text-align:left;"| Mikhail Lisin | style="text-align:left;"| A Just Russia | | 5.22 |- | style="background-color:"| | style="text-align:left;"| Viktor Yeroshenko | style="text-align:left;"| Party of Pensioners | | 3.07 |- | style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Valid votes | | 98.93 |- | style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Blank ballots | | 1.07 |- 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 | | 60.14 |- | style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Registered voters | | 100.00 |- | colspan="5" style="background-color:#E9E9E9;"| |- style="font-weight:bold" | colspan="4" |Source:
Governor Melnichenko re-appointed incumbent Senator Nikolay Kondratyuk (Independent) to the Federation Council.
See also 2026 Russian regional elections
References