Far-right and reformist candidates top voter preferences according to new survey

George Simion, the leader of far-right party Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) and Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan, who is running as an independent, are the main favorites to win the upcoming presidential election, according to an IRSOP poll.

George Simion would be voted by 31% of Romanians, while Nicușor Dan would receive 28% of the voters’ support, according to the poll conducted between April 4–14. According to IRSOP analysts, the difference between the top two candidates and the others is large and will be difficult to recover.

In third place in voter preferences would be Victor Ponta, a former Social Democrat currently running as an independent, with 18%, while the ruling PSD-PNL-UDMR coalition's candidate Crin Antonescu is off the podium, with 17%.

Elena Lasconi, the candidate backed and then repudiated by the Save Romania Union (USR) party, which she nominally still leads, has only 4% in this poll. The remaining 6 candidates gather together 2%.

"Only five out of eleven candidates have significant notoriety. However, notoriety does not exceed two-thirds of voters for any candidate,” the same source said.

In other words, even the highest-rated candidates are not well known to the general public. In fact, no less than 10% of those interviewed in the IRSOP poll could not name even a single candidate for the May 4 presidential elections.

The poll also shows that “almost half of Romanians believe that the president has significant powers. This means that people have expectations that exceed the strict sphere of constitutional presidential duties,” and have equally tall demands from the president. Specifically, 44% believe that the president of Romania has large or very large powers, while the remaining 56% consider that the head of state has very little or not very much power.

The IRSOP research, moreover, reveals that 70% of people do not have a very good opinion about parties. At this score level, placing one party or another within the appreciation margin of the electorate is practically irrelevant.

The same survey measured the top concerns among the public, with low incomes, high prices, instability, and war ranking high.

“Two-thirds of voters (63%) live with fear of uncertainty, war, and recession. For the majority of people, income and prices represent the crucial issue. People need to be sure that their world, income, work, social services, and justice are predictable and fair,” say the authors of the IRSOP sociological research alongside the data.

Around 1,030 people were interviewed by phone between April 4–14, 2025. The sample is representative for the Romanian population over 18 years old.