Fewer, older, and more educated candidates registered for Latvia's 15th Saeima elections

Analysis of data from Latvia's Central Election Commission shows that 14 candidate lists with a total of 1,434 candidates have been submitted for the 15th Saeima elections. This is 395 (21.6%) fewer than in the 14th Saeima elections in 2022, when 1,829 candidates from 19 lists competed for 100 seats. This year, there are on average 14.3 candidates per seat, down from 18.3 in 2022.

The average age of candidates has risen from 46.6 to 48.5 years, and the median age from 46 to 48. The youngest candidate is 20 years old, the oldest 88. The oldest lists are the Greens and Farmers Union (average age 53.1) and "Latvia First" (52.7). The youngest are "Gobzems' List" (41.6) and "The Progressives" (41.7), though the latter has aged compared to 2022.

Higher education is held by 78.7% of candidates, an increase of 4.1 percentage points from 74.6% in 2022. The share of secondary education fell from 23.6% to 19.6%, while primary education remains around 2%. The highest proportion of university graduates is in the New Unity (94.4%), United List (93.6%), and Progressives (91.2%). The lowest is in "Stability!" (51.7%) and "Gobzems' List" (54.8%). The most common universities are the University of Latvia, Riga Technical University, Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Riga Stradins University, and Daugavpils University, though the number of graduates among candidates has dropped along with the total candidate count.

Gender balance has not improved: women make up only 34% of candidates, roughly two percentage points less than in 2022 (36.3%). The highest share of women is in "Stability!" (50%) and Progressives (48%), while the lowest is in the National Alliance and "Rising Sun for Latvia" (24%) and "Harmony Centre" (24.8%).

Regionally, the number of candidates has decreased in all districts, most sharply in Latgale (by 31.8%), which also has the highest share of women (39.4%) and repeat candidates (36.7%). Overall, 33.1% of this year's candidates also ran in 2022, while 66.9% are new or not previously registered. Repeat candidates more often have savings (40% vs 29.5%) and property (88% vs 74.1%).

Marital status was indicated by 77.2% of candidates: 53.4% married, 13.2% single, 9.1% divorced, and 1.5% widowed. Ethnicity was not indicated for 15.1% of candidates, down sharply from 31.2% in 2022. Latvian ethnicity was reported by 74.3%, Russian by about 7.6%.

The most common workplaces are the Saeima (108 entries), Riga municipality, self-employment, the University of Latvia, and Riga Stradins University. Overall, the data show that the political offer has narrowed numerically, but in major parties the candidate profile has become older, more educated, and based on people with more experience and assets.