Lost by 0.15%P... Where Did the Well-Performing Kim Eun-hye Lose Votes?

Gwacheon and Suwon Yeongtong-gu Show Decreased Vote Share Compared to Yoon in the Presidential Election
Kim Dong-yeon’s 'Personality Argument' Boosts Vote Share Above Lee Jae-myung's

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Hyun-ji] In the June 1 local elections, former lawmaker Kim Eun-hye, the People Power Party's candidate for Gyeonggi Province governor, received better results than President Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's candidate in the last presidential election, in most areas of Gyeonggi Province. However, in two places?Gwacheon City and Yeongtong District of Suwon City?she received a lower vote share than President Yoon. This appears to be due to the influence of candidate-specific factors being effective despite the People Power Party wave.

According to the Central Election Commission on the 4th, former lawmaker Kim recorded a vote share of 48.91% in Gyeonggi Province, showing a 0.15 percentage point difference from Kim Dong-yeon, the Democratic Party candidate who won the governorship with 49.06%. This is a significantly reduced margin compared to the vote share difference between President Yoon and then Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung in the last presidential election. President Yoon received 45.62% support in Gyeonggi Province, trailing Lee Jae-myung’s 50.94% by 5.32 percentage points. Considering that Gyeonggi Province is a Democratic Party stronghold, former lawmaker Kim’s strong performance led the People Power Party surge.

However, Gwacheon City and Yeongtong District of Suwon City were exceptions to this trend. In these areas, former lawmaker Kim’s support weakened compared to the presidential election. In Gwacheon, she recorded a vote share of 54.43%, which is 3.16 percentage points lower than President Yoon’s 57.59% in the presidential election. Meanwhile, Governor-elect Kim Dong-yeon received 42.81%, which is 3.58 percentage points higher than Lee Jae-myung’s 39.23%. In Yeongtong District of Suwon, former lawmaker Kim received 3.37 percentage points less, while Governor-elect Kim received 2.55 percentage points more.

This is interpreted as the effect of the candidate-specific appeal promoted by Governor-elect Kim. When he worked at the Economic Planning Board (the predecessor of the Ministry of Economy and Finance), he lived in Gwacheon City for over ten years. During the recent Gwacheon election campaign, he actively highlighted this connection to appeal for support. The fact that many retired public officials reside in Gwacheon also seems to have helped Governor-elect Kim increase his support.

A Democratic Party official said, “Governor-elect Kim’s emphasis on his local ties during the campaign spread by word of mouth among campaign workers, which we believe had a considerable impact.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.