2020 Turkish gubernatorial elections

Turkish gubernatorial elections were held on May 10, 2020, in 14 states.

CHP performed better than expected, and the party picked up the governorships of Istanbul, Ankara, Marmara, Pamukkale and Kapadokya. HDP picked up the governorship of Mesopotamia. AKP was the worst performing party in this election. So much so that, while it lost Istanbul, Ankara and Bursa, which it had been managing since 2005, its alliance partner MHP lost Cappadocia, which it had been managing since 2000.

Parties and alliances
Due to the first-past-the-post system used to elect governors, the elections were preceded by several inter-party negotiations and calculations of tactical voting to improve the chances of defeating the candidates of certain parties. Three broad alliances were formed in the run-up to the vote. Unlike in parliamentary elections where electoral alliances have legal foundations and affect the translation of votes into seats, the alliances formed for gubernatorial elections do not have any legal foundations and merely consist of parties withdrawing their candidates in support for another.

The table below shows which party within the two alliances are contesting each provincial capital district. If the alliance agreement has not extended to that provincial capital and both parties of the alliance are contesting, then 'both' is shown in that alliance's column.

People's Alliance (AKP and MHP)
The People's Alliance was founded in February 2018 between the AKP and MHP as a union of parties supporting the re-election of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the 2018 presidential election. During the election campaign, the two parties were joined by the Great Union Party (BBP) and stated that the alliance would last until the next general elections 2023.

Speculation continued after the 2018 general election as to whether the People's Alliance would remain for the local elections. Despite initial mixed signals, MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli announced in September 2018 that he intended to support AKP candidates in key races and continue the alliance into the gubernatorial election. After a series of disagreements with the AKP, particularly in relation to the reinsertion of the Student Oath, the MHP announced that it would be contesting the elections alone. The 'temporary suspension' of the alliance was subsequently confirmed by Erdoğan. However, a month later after a meeting between the two leaders, the Alliance was declared to have resumed, with the MHP subsequently pulling its candidates in favour of the AKP in numerous provinces, Ankara and Istanbul.

Nation Alliance (CHP and İYİ)
The Nation Alliance was the main opposition alliance during the 2018 general election, being formed by the CHP, the İyi Party, the Democrat Party and the Felicity Party. The Alliance was declared to have formally dissolved shortly after the elections. However, negotiations of a gubernatorial election alliance between the CHP and the İyi Party continued in the later months of 2019. The alliance was finalised on 19 January, with the İyi Party agreeing to not field gubernatorial candidates and would support CHP candidates in Ankara, Istanbul, Mezopotamya, Pamukkale, Seyhan, Trakya and Van. Both parties would field a candidate in Canik, Kapadokya, Marmara and Saruhan while the CHP would support the İyi Party's candidate in Candar, Eretna and Trabzon On 2 February 2020, the CHP and İyi Party's joint candidate in Ankara was announced to be Mansur Yavaş, who narrowly lost to the AKP's candidate Melih Gökçek in the 2015 gubernatorial election amid allegations of fraud. Upon announcing his candidacy, Yavaş declared himself to be the 'Nation Alliance' candidate.

Opinion polls
A number of opinion polls were conducted in the run-up to the election to gauge voting intentions. These included studies to predict overall vote shares and also the outcome of mayoral races in key cities.

Nation-wide summary
The below table shows nationwide opinion polls conducted to gauge overall vote shares.

Ankara
Ankara gubernatorial election was held on 10 May 2020. There were four nominees. However, the most notable were the CHP and AKP candidates.

The incumbent governor, Melih Gökçek, started to rule the province from the Welfare Party in the 1995 elections. He won the 4 elections that followed. However, he was not nominated by his party in 2020.

Results
Mansur Yavaş ,who losing by a small margin in the 2015 election, won the election.

Candar
Candar gubernatorial election was held on 10 May 2020. There were five nominees. However, the most notable were the İYİ and AKP candidates.

Results
AKP won an overwhelming victory against IYI. AKP managed to keep this state in its hands.