Incumbent Governor of Leningrad Oblast Aleksandr Drozdenko is eligible to run for a fourth term in office.

[1] Drozdenko resigned in May 2015 triggering an early gubernatorial election, which he overwhelmingly won in September 2015 with 82.10% of the vote.

Candidate for Governor of Leningrad Oblast should be a Russian citizen and at least 30 years old.

Candidates for Governor of Leningrad Oblast should not have a foreign citizenship or residence permit.

Each candidate in order to be registered is required to collect at least 7% of signatures of members and heads of municipalities.