Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan told his supporters to be cautious and wait for the official results.
Eurosceptic nationalist George Simion is seemingly on course to win the first round of Romania’s presidential election re-run on May 4, according to early results.
Partial results put Simion’s lead at 42 percent, with former senator Crin Antonescu, 65, in second place with 23 percent of support. Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan, 55, was in third at 16 percent. However, that data only includes ballots from 50 percent of voting stations.
Simion, 38, is critical of the European Union’s leadership, opposes military aid for Ukraine, and has said he supports U.S. President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again agenda.
“This is not just an electoral victory, it is a victory of Romanian dignity,” Simion said after exit poll data went public showing him in the lead. “It is the victory of those who have not lost hope, of those who still believe in Romania, a free, respected, sovereign country.”
Dan told his supporters to be cautious about early results and “wait for the exact vote count that will come later tonight,” he said.
Sunday’s vote was a re-run of a previous election five months ago that was canceled following alleged Russian interference in favor of conservative nationalist frontrunner Calin Georgescu, who was banned from running again.
Georgescu has denied the allegations against him, which include electoral violations. Russia has also denied the accusations of meddling.
Simion voted alongside Georgescu on Sunday. The latter alleged the election was a “fraud” and told supporters to take their country back. Simion said his vote was to “restore democracy” and dozens of people outside the voting location chanted “Calin for president.”
Sergiu Miscoiu, a political science professor at Babes-Bolyai University, said the diaspora vote could be enough to put Dan into the run-off vote, but he may still struggle to overcome Simion’s support.
Bucharest’s supreme court annulled the previous vote on Dec. 6, 2024, following the allegations against Georgescu.
If no one candidate wins more than 50 percent of the ballots on Sunday, there will be a runoff election held on May 18.
While there are 11 candidates on the ballot, the other two serious contenders for Sunday’s contest are Victor Ponta, a former prime minister and another supporter of Trump, and Elena Lasconi, the runner-up in the aborted 2024 poll.
The core issues in this election are Romania’s future direction and dissatisfaction among the electorate with the current political class.
Guy Birchall and Reuters contributed to this report.
