In the primary election for the Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate held in the Honam region (Gwangju, South Jeolla Province, and North Jeolla Province), candidate Lee Jae-myung won decisively, but the voter turnout was only 53.67%. While it confirmed an overwhelming trend, interest in Honam, the political stronghold, did not reach that of other regions. It is widely seen that this reflects the candidate's solo race similar to a coronation and the concerns of the traditional support base due to the declaration of 'centrist conservatism.'
Candidate Lee Jae-myung secured 171,809 votes (88.69%) out of 200,809 voters in the Honam region primary election held at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center in Gwangju on the afternoon of the 26th.
The voter turnout for the Honam region primary election was calculated at 53.67%, with 200,809 participants from an electoral college of 374,141 individuals. This figure is lower than the turnout in the Chungcheong region (57.87%) and the Yeongnam region (70.88%). The overall turnout for the primary election was 57.49%, with 338,794 out of 589,356 electoral college members participating.
For candidate Lee Jae-myung, who has recently promoted a centrist expansion and displayed a 'rightward shift,' overwhelming support from Honam was crucial to proving the Democratic Party of Korea's legitimacy.
Although candidate Lee Jae-myung has won with overwhelming support in previous presidential primaries and party conventions, he has struggled specifically in the Honam primary.
Candidate Lee Jae-myung recorded a dominant polling rate of around 90% in this presidential primary, but the voter turnout in his political stronghold decreased. This means that the participation of the traditional support base that Lee Jae-myung worked hard to secure for 'validating legitimacy' was low.
In the 19th presidential primary held in 2017, the voter turnout in the Honam region was 64.9%. At that time, former President Moon Jae-in was confirmed as the final candidate. Four years later, the voter turnout in the 20th primary was 55.23%. Compared to the recently held 21st presidential primary voter turnout in Honam, it decreased by 11.23 percentage points (p) and 1.56 percentage points (p) compared to the 19th and 20th presidential elections, respectively.
The same was true for the party convention, where candidate Lee Jae-myung won. During the last party convention in 2022, the voting rate among party members in Gwangju and South Jeolla Province was only in the 30% range. Particularly in North Jeolla Province, the voter turnout was 34.07%, ranking 14th among the 17 regions. The figures for Gwangju (34.18%) and South Jeolla Province (37.52%) were 13th and 10th, respectively.
In last year's party convention, which was held under the 'Lee Jae-myung solo system,' the voter turnout in the Honam region was in the 20% range, which was half of the national party members' voting rate of 42.18%. In North Jeolla Province and South Jeolla Province, where 150,000 party members are present, only about 30,000 voted each. The participation rates were 20.28% in North Jeolla Province and 23.17% in South Jeolla Province. The voting rate among the 100,000 party members in Gwangju was 25.29%.
After the joint speech meeting on that day, candidate Lee Jae-myung met with reporters and, in response to a question about the 'lower voter turnout in Honam than in Chungcheong and Yeongnam,' said, 'In the case of Honam, since the number of party members is quite large, the voter turnout might be a bit low,' adding that 'the absolute number of party members and voters has increased, so it would be good to consider that aspect as well.'
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party of Korea will hold its final primary joint speech meeting for the metropolitan area, Gangwon Province, and Jeju Island at KINTEX on the 27th. The results of the party members' votes and the general public opinion polls, which account for 50% of the primary weight, will be combined to determine the presidential candidate.