Who votes for Sandra Gómez? The PSPV needs a high mobilization to fight for Valencia

A few days ago, the former spokesperson for the PSPV in Les Corts Valencianes and former deputy general secretary of the party, Manolo Mata wrote on his Twitter account: "Without hesitation, I would go to a super Sunday on May 28.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
10 December 2022 Saturday 21:32
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Who votes for Sandra Gómez? The PSPV needs a high mobilization to fight for Valencia

A few days ago, the former spokesperson for the PSPV in Les Corts Valencianes and former deputy general secretary of the party, Manolo Mata wrote on his Twitter account: "Without hesitation, I would go to a super Sunday on May 28." A reflection –that of joining the regional, municipal and general elections on the same date- that one of the thinking heads of Valencian socialism argued convinced that "a great national debate with very conflicting positions" was the best scenario for the left.

There are many doubts, especially in Compromís, but also in the PSPV, to join the fate of Ximo Puig and the Botànic to that of Pedro Sánchez, since it is thought that it could be lethal for the aspirations of the Valencian left.

However, it is very likely that this great mobilization exponentially increased Sandra Gómez's chances of being mayor of Valencia. And it is that it is on the national stage where the PSPV best moves in the cap i casal.

The brand of the fist and the rose was the force with the most votes in the last two general elections of April and November 2019 with 113,237 and 107,790 votes, respectively. It was the first time that the Socialists had won elections in the city since the regional elections in 1991. During the following 28 years they had been surpassed, first, by the PP and, later, at the municipal and regional level, by Compromís.

It is the data from the last generals (where 25% of the votes were achieved) that give the Socialists the most hope of being able to fight with the current mayor Joan Ribó for the rod of command, as long as the balance ends up tipping towards the left block. Attention because the strength of the PP led by María José Catalá seems evident.

At the moment, all the published surveys suggest that the duel will be between the Compromís candidate -the one preferred by the left-wing voter in the municipal field- and the popular candidate, but in the socialist ranks they believe that a great mobilization can benefit them and Get them fully into the fight.

In fact, in the last two elections that the PSPV won in the city, participation exceeded 75%, while in the municipal elections of 2019 -which Compromís won- participation fell to 66.3%.

It is not the only data that they cling to in the PSPV. In Sandra Gómez's team, they highlight that, after the first legislature, an "unprecedented milestone" was achieved since, in 2019, the socialist candidacy was the one that grew the most in votes as part of a government that it did not lead. Political theory says that the minority party in a government does not usually get electoral revenue from the years of management and that it is the majority that, after the legislature, achieves greater support from citizens.

However, the socialists, far from being blurred, recovered 5 points (they went from 14.15% of the votes to 19.37%) and two mayors, being decisive in reissuing the left-wing government after the collapse of Podemos. After four years of management, the PSPV added 16,500 more ballots, while Compromís stayed at 10,000.

And it is that although they are part of the same government team, Gómez has always sought to set his own profile with respect to Ribó, especially in key issues such as the expansion of the Port or some urban development actions. This has caused not a few dissonances in the so-called Rialto Pact, despite the fact that the Mayor has always tried to flee from the controversy, leaving it to the Compromís councilors who enter into hand-to-hand combat with the Socialist Deputy Mayor.

In the ranks of the PSPV they argue that the recovery of the socialist municipal vote is based on the identification of the party with its natural voters, "working people who live in the neighborhoods of the city, added to a high percentage of women's votes and an exponential growth of the vote in areas such as Poblats Marítims, a district with its own identity that supported Sandra Gómez as mayor with more than 10 additional points”.

All in all, they explain that a scenario of very low participation (it must be remembered that in 2019 the municipal ones did not go hand in hand with the regional ones), penalized the options of a party that, they explain, "is historically preferred among those who doubt between vote and not do it. Hence the importance of convincing the undecided pool that exists at the beginning of each electoral campaign.

In this line, the PSPV of the city understands that mobilization is key for a formation that aspires to be, and on that it will base part of its campaign, "the party of ordinary people." That, they indicate, "is the differential element with respect to a right that is very focused on the spaces where the population with the highest income in the city lives and also a left that is more based on post-material values ​​and further removed from the concerns of these people."

Along these lines, they see it as feasible that those less ideologically marked neighborhoods could end up voting for a woman with whom they understand they can identify with.

But for everything to work, the objective of the socialist candidacy is to achieve a large mobilization and everything indicates that, to achieve this, they will not be able to count on the national stage since it does not seem that Pedro Sánchez is going to bet on a Super Sunday. So Sandra Gómez will have to settle for the pull of Ximo Puig to agitate the undecided and try to compete for the Mayor's Office.