Caracas, October 18 (RHC)-- Venezuela´s National Electoral Council has confirmed that the state of Bolivar gubernatorial race was won by the ruling party's candidate Justo Noguera, who garnered 49.09 percent of the votes.

The opposition candidate, Andres Velasquez, received 48.83% of the votes.

Bolivar, one of the 23 states of Venezuela, was the only one whose results were not irreversible, and the National Electoral Council did not make the announcement until the last vote in the region was counted, teleSUR said.

The new governor-elect is Major General of the Bolivarian National Guard and was born in 1961, in Miranda state.

With this victory, the Partido Socialista Unificado de Venezuela (PSUV)  and the Polo Patriotico coalition won 18 of the 23 governorates, an overwhelming success for the chavistas political forces.

The regional elections held last Sunday had a voters’ turnout of 61%, a record of participation, according to the National Electoral Council.