Russia's Divide Apparent in Moscow Mayor's Race
Navalny, the rebel, takes on Sobyanin, the insider
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On a bright August day in Moscow, a couple hundred people gather outside the Skhodnenskaya metro station. They have come to hear Alexei Navalny, a 37-year-old candidate in the Sept. 8 mayoral election. Since the protests of December 2011, he has turned himself from an activist and blogger into the only credible opposition candidate to run for a major office.
Navalny’s chances for victory are slim. He faces Sergey Sobyanin, the incumbent acting mayor and a member of President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. A Sobyanin victory would enhance his stature inside the political elite and possibly put him on the shortlist of potential successors to Putin.