Lee Jae-myung extends landslide streak in DP Jeolla primary with nearly 89% of vote

Lee Jae-myung continued his landslide victory streak in the liberal Democratic Party’s (DP) third regional primary, winning 88.69 percent of the vote in the Jeolla region.

Lee Jae-myung, the front-runner in the Democratic Party primary, speaks during a campaign event at the party’s regional primary in the Jeolla region at the Kimdaejung Convention Center in Gwangju on April 26. [NEWS1]

Lee Jae-myung continued his landslide victory streak in the liberal Democratic Party’s (DP) third regional primary, winning 88.69 percent of the vote in the Jeolla region.

Gyeonggi Gov. Kim Dong-yeon came in second with 7.41 percent, followed by former South Gyeongsang Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo, who won 3.90 percent.

The Jeolla region has long been a liberal stronghold and is home to about one-third — around 370,000 — of the DP’s eligible party members. Out of 200,809 votes cast online and by phone during the three-day voting period, which began on Wednesday, Lee secured 178,090 votes, while Kim Dong-yeon received 14,889 votes and Kim Kyoung-soo 7,830.

Lee also clinched crushing victories in the first two regional primaries — the first in the Chungcheong region on April 19 and the second in the Jeolla region on April 20. Adding the votes from all three primaries so far, Lee has secured 89.04 percent of the DP's votes, followed by Kim Dong-yeon with 6.54 percent and Kim Kyoung-soo with 4.42 percent.

The final regional primary in greater Seoul, Gangwon and Jeju is set to take place on Sunday, after which the final results will also be announced.

If no candidate wins a majority, a runoff will be held from April 29 to 30 before the final candidate is decided on May 1, although Lee is highly likely to be named the party's final nominee.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]