Exit poll: Moscow mayor cruising to re-election

MOSCOW – An exit poll reported by Moscow’s city-run television channel indicates the incumbent mayor is cruising to a new term with nearly 75 per cent of the vote.

The poll data broadcast by the Moskva 24 channel after polls closed Sunday said Sergei Sobyanin’s nearest challenger would receive only about 10 per cent.

Sobyanin, who has led Moscow since 2010, faced no serious competition in the vote — unlike the election in 2013 when prominent opposition figure Alexei Navalny got more than 25 per cent of the vote.

Sobyanin has won high marks from many Muscovites for city improvement projects including park restorations and efforts to reduce the city’s choking traffic. But he also has faced controversy for a plan to tear down hundreds of Khrushchev-era low-rise apartment buildings and relocate their residents.