Romania local elections: Partial results confirm Nicusor Dan is Bucharest’s new mayor

Update: Center-right candidate Nicusor Dan is the new mayor of Bucharest, according to partial results after more than 95% of the ballots have been counted and centralized. Dan got 42.8% of the votes while his main opponent, incumbent Social Democrat mayor Gabriela Firea, received 38% of the votes. Former president Traian Basescu is third with 11% of the Bucharesters’ votes.

Meanwhile, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) won most votes for Bucharest’s General Council, namely 32.4% of the total, according to the partial results. The USR-PLUS alliance was second, with 26.85% of the total votes, followed by the National Liberal Party (PNL), with 19.35%. USR-PLUS and PNL, which supported a single candidate for mayor – Nicusor Dan – are expected to form the new majority in General Council.

Traian Basescu’s Popular Movement Party (PMP) will also be represented in the Council, after it received 7.83% of the votes. ALDE, the party of former prime minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu, only got 2.9% of the votes and will not have members in Bucharest’s General Council. Tariceanu’s scose in the race for Bucharest mayor was even lower than his party’s overall score – only 1.5%. The PRO Bucharest alliance led by former PM Victor Ponta’s PRO Romania party, is also out of the General Council after it got only 1.7% of the votes.

The initial news was: Center-right candidate Nicusor Dan won the race for Bucharest mayor, according to the first exit poll released on Sunday after the voting closed. Nicusor Dan won 47.2% of the votes 8 percentage points more than incumbent mayor Gabriela Firea – 39%, according to an exit poll made by CURS-Avangarde widely cited by the local media.

However, an alternative exit poll made by SOCIOPOL and presented by Romania TV news station, which is close to the Social Democratic Party (PSD), indicated a lead of only 1% for Nicusor Dan (45% to 44%).

Nicusor Dan announced his victory and thanked Bucharesters for their involvement and civic spirit. Meanwhile, Gabriela Firea said she didn’t believe in the polls and that she would wait for the official results.

Nicusor Dan is supported by a center-right coalition made of the ruling National Liberal Party (PNL) and the USR-PLUS alliance, while Firea represents the Social Democratic Party (PSD).

Former president Traian Basescu was third, with 8.6% of the Bucharesters’ votes, according to the CURS-Avangarde exit poll. Meanwhile, former prime minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu, received only 1.6% of the votes, fewer than actor Florin Calinescu – 1.7%.

The center-right candidates supported by PNL and USR-PLUS also won three of the six district city halls in Bucharest, according to the same exit poll. Frenchwoman Clotilde Armand won the race for District 1, with 47% of the votes. Of the current district mayors in Bucharest only District 3 mayor Robert Negoita (former PSD) and District 4 mayor Daniel Baluta (PSD) were leading in the exit polls.