The Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), led by Mr. Luis Abinader, won an outright majority in the 32-member Senate and became the largest force in the 190-member Chamber of Deputies. President Danilo Medina’s Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), which endorsed Mr. Gonzalo Castillo as its presidential candidate (see note), came second. The PRM’s electoral ally, the People’s Force (FP, a splinter party of the PLD led by former President Leonel Fernández) took a handful of seats in both chambers. Mr. Abinader (PRM) won the presidential election held in parallel with the parliamentary polls, thereby ending the PLD’s 16-year rule. On 16 August, Mr. Abinader was sworn in as the new President.

The 2020 elections were initially scheduled for 17 May but were postponed to 5 July due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Election campaigning was low profile, without the mass meetings and street caravans that had been common in previous years. The PRM and Mr. Abinader (who tested positive for COVID-19 in June) ran on a platform of increasing the focus on health, anti-corruption and human rights, amongst other issues.

Note:
In May 2015, the National Revisory Assembly, composed of senators and deputies, adopted constitutional amendments to allow consecutive re-election to the presidency, as was the case before 2010. The amendments prohibit a President from serving a third term, and the outgoing President Medina had thus been ineligible to stand for a new term.