Sergei Sobyanin, Moscow's incumbent mayor, has been re-elected Sunday.
His main opponent, nationalist anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny, known in the West for his opposition to President Vladimir Putin, claimed the results has been falsified but a commission tasked with observing the polmls reported ‘’no decisive violations.’’
According to the latest results provided by Russian electoral officials, Sobyanin, who has been backed by President Putin, won 53,19 per cent of the vote against 25,61 to Navalny.
"There won't be a second round of voting," Valentin Gorbunov, the head of the city election commission said.
55-year-old Sobyanin served as Putin's deputy from 2005 until he was appointed Moscow mayor in 2010 after Yuri Luzhkov, who had governed the city for almost two decades, was forced out of office.
The Kremlin-backed candidate has kept a low profile during the race, shunning debates with the five other candidates.
Navalny’s candidacy had divided Russian Jews. They were torn between the candidate of an establishment that mostly has been good for the Jews and an opposition leader with nationalist, xenophobic and even anti-Semitic associations some found troubling.
In a party celebrating the first year anniversary of a Moscow newspaper, the 37-year-old lawyer reportedly suggested to "make the first toast for the Holocaust", referred to religious Jews in his blog as: "dandies in fox hats and rags" and stated that "whoever wants to live in Russia has to become Russian – in the full sense of the word".
Calling for total foreigner cleansing, Navalny’s supporters threatened Jews and other minorities who were said to be afraid to openly come against the candidate.
Although Navalny’s electoral staff denied the reports as ‘’unfounded’’, an Israeli independent research team found on internet videos and posts uploaded by the candidate showing his alarming extremist attitude and remarks.
“What I hear of Navalny does not sound good,’’ said Boruch Gorin, spokesperson for Chabad's Federation of Jewish Communities in Russia and editor in chief Russian Jewish magazine L’chaim, before the election.
‘’When I look at Putin’s party, I can say they have been good not only to the Jews but for multicultural Russia. And I am sure many Jews and npon-Jews will remember this when voting.’’
Last July, Navalny was sentenced to five years in prison on embezzlement and fraud charges while working in a postal business. He was however released after one day in jail to allow him to continue his campaign pending appeal of his sentence.