MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Communist was on track to win a mayoral election in Russia's third city on Sunday, partial returns indicated, in a setback for the party at the center of President Vladimir Putin's tightly controlled political system.
With more than two-thirds of the ballots counted in Novosibirsk, Anatoly Lokot led a field of 11 candidates with 43.4 percent while the ruling United Russia party candidate, Vladimir Znatkov, had 39.9 percent, state-run news agency Itar-Tass reported.
