Head of administration Petr Marchenko was appointed by President Yeltsin in July 1995. Previously, 1991-1995, he served as deputy and first deputy to the head of administration. Marchenko is supported by Our Home Is Russia. The All-Russian Coordinating Council reconsidered its initial endorsement of Marchenko after local branches of some democratic parties raised objections. Instead, it supported Aleksandr Korobeinikov, the former vice governor and leader of the regional branch of the Congress of Russian Communities
The incumbent's chief Communist party challenger is State Duma deputy and former Komsomol leader Aleksandr Chernogorov. Chernogorov, who has high prospects of winning, is backed by most left-wing opposition forces except for the Agrarian Party.
Other gubernatorial candidates include Aleksei Kulakovskii, who was dismissed in May of this year from the post of president's representative in Stavropol Krai and head of administration of Mineralnye Vody for misuse of budgetary funds, and Vasilii Garanzha, deputy director of the company "Stavropoltransstroi". (See OMRI Russian Regional Report, 23 October 1996)
Chairman of Duma - Valerii Zerenkov (elected in April 1994)
Stavropol Krai occupies the central northern foreland of the Caucasus between the Manych River, part of the shipping route linking the Caspian Sea and the Sea of Azov in the north and the Caucasus foothills, where Stavropol Krai shares a common border with all the North Caucasus republics (except Adygeya), including Chechnya.
Apart from the semidesert east, the extensive Stavropol Plain is covered with fertile steppe soil used for highly developed agriculture. Agriculture and processing of farming products also dominate the krai's economy, though there is some light and mechanic engineering industry and exploitation of natural gas deposits. The krai's administrative center Stavropol (in 1935-1943 named Voroshilovsk) located on a tributary of the upper Kalaus River, was founded in 1777 as a fortress.
1995 Population: 2,650,300 (1.79% of Russian total)
Industrial production as percentage of all Russian production (Jan.-Aug. 1995): 0.73%
Agricultural production as percentage of all Russian production (1994): 1.92%
Average personal income index in July 1995: 57 (Russia as a whole = 100)
Price basket index in July 1995: 83 (Russia = 100)
Average back wages owed per person (September 1995): 23,800 rubles (Russian average = 37,100)
Urban population: 53.7% (Russia overall: 73.0%)
Student population (1993): 106 per 10,000 (Russia overall: 171/10,000)
Pensioner population (1994): 24.07
Percent of population with higher education (1989 census): 9.7% (Russia overall: 11.3%)
Percent of population working in (1993):
Number of telephones per 100 families (1993):
According to a survey by Bank Austria, the oblast was ranked 68th among Russia's 89 regions on investment climate.
1996 Presidential Election
| Candidate | Turnout in First Round | Turnout in Second Round |
| Yeltsin | 22.00% | 40.93% |
| Zyuganov | 43.93% | 53.93% |
| Lebed | 19.34% | |
| Zhirinovsky | 6.19% | NA |
| Yavlinskii | 4.10% | NA |
| Overall Turnout (Stavropol Krai) | 73.75% | 71.65% |
| Overall Turnout (Russia) | 69.67% | 68.79% |
1995 Parliamentary Election
| Party | Result |
| Communist Party of the Russian Federation | 28.84% |
| Liberal Democratic Party of Russia | 13.06% |
| Our Home Is Russia | 6.45% |
| Yabloko | 3.09% |
| Women of Russia | 3.48% |
| Communists -- Workers' Russia | 5.63% |
| Party of Worker's Self-Government | 3.50% |
| Congress of Russian Communities | 3.24% |
| Agrarian Party of Russia | 3.24% |
| In single-member districts | |
| Party | Seats |
| Communist Party of the Russian Federation | 3 |
| Bloc of Stanislav Govorukhin | 1 |
| Turnout in Stavropol Krai | 67.21% |
| Turnout in Russia | 64.37% |
1993 Constitutional Referendum
| Yes | 52.92% |
| No | 44.81% |
1993 Parliamentary Election
| Party | Result |
| Liberal Democratic Party of Russia | 38.53% |
| Communist Party of the Russian Federation | 12.35% |
| Agrarian Party of Russia | 11.48% |
| Russia's Choice | 9.32% |
| Women of Russia | 6.93% |
| Party of Russian Unity and Concord | 6.19% |
| Yabloko | 5.13% |
| Democratic Party of Russia | 3.64% |
| In single-member districts | |
| Party | Seats |
| Agrarian Party of Russia | 1 |
| Union of 12 December | 1 |
| Independent | 1 |
| From electoral associations | |
| Party | Seats |
| Agrarian Party of Russia | 1 |
| Women of Russia | 1 |
| Turnout in Stavropol Krai | 63.77% |
| Turnout in Russia overall | 54.34% |
1991 Presidential Election
| Candidate | Result |
| Yeltsin | 46.04% |
| Ryzhkov | 21.84% |
| Zhirinovsky | 11.92% |
| Tuleev | 6.93% |
| Bakatin | 4.59% |
| Makashov | 4.37% |
| Turnout in Stavropol Krai | 82.33% |
| Turnout in Russia | 76.66% |
Data compiled by Silja Haas and Anna Paretskaya.
Sources
Goroda Rossii [Cities of Russia], Moscow: Bolshaya Rossiiskaya Entsiklopediya, 1994
Rossiiskie regiony nakanune vyborov-95 [Russian regions on the eve of 1995 elections], Moscow: Yuridicheskaya Literatura, 1995.
Itogi vyborov 17 dekabrya 1995 goda po regionam [Results of the 17 December 1995 elections, regional breakdown], Moscow: Panorama, 1996.
Vybory deputatov Gosudarstvennoi Dumy 1995 [State Duma elections 1995], Moscow: Central Electoral Commission, 1996.
S.A. Nagaev and A.Woergoetter: Regional Risk Rating in Russia, Vienna: Bank Austria, 1995.