The PSOE has registered its candidacies for the general elections of November 29, in which it is keeping almost half of the lead candidates for the Congress of Deputies who stood in July 2023. Among them are several collaborators of the former deputy and former Secretary of Organization, Santos Cerdán, removed over alleged corruption and currently under investigation by the Justice system.
Of the 52 top positions for the Lower House, 22 are repeated, which means 42%, while the rest are new faces or deputies who were already in lower positions and are now moving up to head the lists.
Among those who are once again leading candidacies are Javier Cendón, provincial secretary of León, and Manuel Arribas, both deputies very close to Santos Cerdán until his expulsion from the PSOE leadership and his entry into provisional prison, investigated for alleged kickbacks in public works contracts in a case that continues in the Audiencia Nacional.
Cerdán himself was 'number one' for Navarra four years ago, a place now occupied by the Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration and Government spokesperson, Elma Saiz.
Cendón came to be removed from the Federal Executive Commission, where he held the Secretariat of Science, Innovation and Universities, in the internal reshuffle that took place immediately after Cerdán's departure. However, Pedro Sánchez has once again placed him in the front line by appointing him new general secretary of the Socialist Parliamentary Group in the Congress in replacement of Montse Mínguez, who resigned due to the criticism of her partner's real estate businesses.
Juanfran Serrano moves to second place for Jaén
Juanfran Serrano also remains on the lists, Cerdán's main collaborator as his deputy in the Secretariat of Organization. In the 2023 general elections he was head of the list for Jaén and on this occasion he was about to repeat in the first place, but he has finally been moved to second place, from which he likewise retains chances of winning a seat.
The provincial committee of Jaén initially gave the green light to a proposal in which Serrano appeared as number 1, but the regional leadership headed by María Jesús Montero modified the candidacy and placed him in second place, giving the leadership to Isabel Uceda "to promote parity" in the Andalusian lists, they argued.
Figures such as Narbona and Leal fall
The President of the Government and PSOE candidate, Pedro Sánchez, once again heads the list for Madrid, in which several ministers occupy winnable positions, among them Margarita Robles as 'two', as well as Félix Bolaños and Fernando Grande-Marlaska.
By contrast, long-standing Socialists are left out, such as the current president of the party, Cristina Narbona, --who recently had to testify as a witness in the case investigating the so-called PSOE 'plumber' Leire Díez-- and the deputy Isaura Leal, wife of Juanma Serrano, also linked to Díez during his time at the head of Correos.
Puente repeats in Valladolid and Armengol in Baleares
Among the senior officials who repeat as list leaders compared with July 2023 is the president of the Congress, Francina Armengol, in Baleares; the Minister of Housing, Isabel Rodríguez, for Ciudad Real; and the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, in Valladolid, the latter at the center of criticism following the rail accident in Urda (Toledo).
The parliamentary spokesperson, Patxi López, will again be the candidate for Vizcaya, as will the deputy Rafaela Romero in Guipúzcoa and the Government delegate in Asturias, Adriana Lastra, who repeats in this community.
In Catalonia, the deputy Marc Lamuá is standing again for Gerona and in Lérida Montse Mínguez was going to repeat, but her resignation in the middle of the pre-campaign allowed the entry of the deputy mayor of the City Council of Lérida, Cristina Morón.
Castilla y León keeps all its list leaders
In Castilla y León, in addition to Puente, Cendón and Arribas, the same number ones are maintained in all the provinces: the former spokesperson of the Federal Executive Esther Peña in Burgos; David Serrada in Salamanca; José Luis Aceves in Segovia; Luis Rey in Soria; Antidio Fagúndez in Zamora and also Luz Martínez Seijo in Palencia.
The latter was imposed by Ferraz in a decision that generated deep internal unease and led to the mass resignation of the rest of the members of the list, which forced a search for new names to accompany her.
In La Rioja, the Socialists are once again betting on Elisa Garrido, a member of the team of the current Organization Secretariat headed by Rebeca Torró. In Aragón, Begoña Nasarre in Huesca and Herminio Sancho in Teruel repeat.
The renewal is almost complete in Andalucía, where only Gabriel Cruz (Huelva) continues as list leader, while in Las Palmas Dolores Corujo is running again.