Davao del Sur and Davao City has a combined voters of 1.25 million in 2016 making them a politically important area. It’s geographical location makes it also a significant entry point to other provinces not only in the region but also in the neighboring regions as well.
Davao del Sur is composed of one city and nine municipalities. These exclude the highly urbanized city of Davao, the hometown of incumbent president, Rodrigo Duterte.
For the 2019 elections, a total of 320 candidates are vying to fill-in 144 seats. These include the seats for the lone Congressional District of Davao del Sur and three Congressional Districts of Davao City.
Four candidates will be competing for the lone district of Davao del Sur ; three will be competing in the First Congressional District of Davao City; while the Second and Third Districts of Davao City only have one candidate each. The list of congressional candidates can be accessed here.
| Position | Seats | Candidates |
| Congresspersons | 4 | 9 |
| Governor | 1 | 3 |
| Vice Governor | 1 | 3 |
| Provincial Board | 10 | 20 |
| City Mayor | 2 | 6 |
| City Vice Mayor | 2 | 6 |
| City Councilors | 34 | 80 |
| Municipal Mayor | 9 | 21 |
| Municipal Vice Mayor | 9 | 19 |
| Municipal Councilors | 72 | 153 |
| TOTAL | 144 | 320 |
The gubernatorial and vice gubernatorial races have three candidates each. The list of provincial candidates is here.
In Davao City, Sarah Duterte is facing a challenger who is being dismissed as a token candidate while Baste Duterte is running unopposed.
The complete list of candidates for the Davao City elections is here.
22% of the candidates in the city and province are female.
Almost half (47%) of the candidates are Independent. Majority of these independent candidates were not accommodated by Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) of Sarah Duterte. HNP is a regional party.
HNP candidates account for 41.6% of the candidates. The rest are from the Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod (HTL) of Presidential son, Pulong Duterte, the Nacionalista Party, Filipino Family Party, Nacionalist People’s Coalition, and the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan.
