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You're listening to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News.
The mayor of Moscow is sometimes called the second most powerful official in Russia after President Vladimir Putin. The city of nearly 12 million people is Russia's economic and political capital - think New York City and Washington combined. So the results of yesterday's mayoral election made big news not because, as expected, the race went to the Kremlin-backed incumbent but because the challenger got 27 percent, far better than expected.