Abstract

A general election is an arena where political battles take place between candidates and upholding democratic values. However, general elections still follow non-democratic practices. Many political activists still rely on economic domination and clientelism to get votes. This political activism can reproduce social and economic inequality in a democratic election. Candidates with dominant political and economic power have the chance to win an election, whereas candidates without the economic capital and strong political will likely lose. The purpose of this study was to find out how candidate Amran Mahmud used his capital to emerge as the winner after fighting the political economy domination of another candidate, Baso Rahmanuddin. This work analyzes a case study of Amran Mahmud’s victory in the regional head election in Wajo district in 2018. It used a qualitative approach with observation, interviews, and a document study. Data was analyzed using analytics software Nvivo 12 Plus. The results show that candidates without large economic resources and strong political support also have the same chance as other candidates and even won. It is highly dependent on the accumulation of forms of capital such as social, cultural, identity, religious, economic, and political capital. Social capital is influential in bridging trust within the voting community.