On September 23, 2026, Nizhny Novgorod Region Governor Gleb Nikitin announced that he was relinquishing the State Duma deputy's mandate of the 9th convocation that he had received following the September elections, and decided to continue leading the region.[1][2]

Circumstances

In the September 2026 elections, Nikitin had headed the regional list of United Russia and simultaneously served as secretary of the party's Nizhny Novgorod branch. In campaign materials, the United Russia candidates were presented as members of his team. According to the election results, United Russia received 53.41% of the vote in the region, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) — 14.49%, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) — 11.71%, New People — 8.68%, and A Just Russia — 6.16%.[2] Nikitin's placement at the top of the regional list automatically entitled him to a deputy's mandate.[1]

According to a source in the regional government, the Governor's inclusion on the list was intended to serve a consolidating function and was driven by his role in the electoral campaign. Nikitin decided to waive his parliamentary mandate in order to focus on governing the region.[2]

Procedure and Consequences

To formalize the waiver, Nikitin was required to submit a corresponding application to the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation. Once the application was accepted, the vacant seat in the lower house of parliament was to pass to the next candidate on the United Russia list in the Nizhny Novgorod regional group.[1][3]

According to the source in the regional government, the incoming deputies from the region were tasked with advancing the interests of Nizhny Novgorod Region in the State Duma — primarily in matters of budgetary process and legislative work in line with the Governor's priorities.[2]

In the single-member constituencies of Nizhny Novgorod Region (Nos. 131–135), the same elections were won by candidates from United Russia: Yevgeniy Kostin, Dmitriy Grachev, Yuliya Garevskaya, and Artyom Kavinov.[2]

On September 23, 2026, at a scheduled session of the Nizhny Novgorod City Duma, deputies approved the early resignation of First Deputy Speaker Yevgeniy Kostin, who had been elected to the State Duma of the 9th convocation from a single-member constituency — thus the rotation linked to the Duma elections simultaneously affected several levels of legislative power in the region. Kostin had represented constituency No. 24 in the city parliament and, following the results of the vote in the Prioksky single-member constituency No. 132, received 54.08% of the vote.[4][5]

Sources

  1. Newsroom24 — Gleb Nikitin relinquished his State Duma mandate in favor of the post of Governor — Politics
  2. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — Nizhny Novgorod Governor Gleb Nikitin will not become a State Duma deputy — Nizhny Novgorod News (archive)
  3. Otkrytyy Nizhniy — Gleb Nikitin to leave his State Duma seat to continue working in the region — Politics
  4. Newsroom24 — On September 23, 2026, the Nizhny Novgorod City Duma considered the matter of the early termination of the powers of First Deputy Chairman Yevgeniy Kostin in
  5. Otkrytyy Nizhniy — On September 23, 2026, at a scheduled session of the Nizhny Novgorod City Duma, deputies approved the early resignation of First Deputy Speaker Yevgeniy Kos
  6. Zhivyom v Nizhnem — On the day Nikitin announced his decision to relinquish his mandate — September 23, 2026 — the Nizhny Novgorod City Duma voted to terminate the powers of the First Deputy