Survey: Two sovereignist candidates top ranking for presidents, governing coalition candidate in fourth

Two sovereignist candidates, namely the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), George Simion, and former Social Democratic (PSD) prime minister Victor Ponta, are in the first two positions in the race for the presidential office in a Verifield poll commissioned by Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan and presented on Monday, March 31.

Simion is credited with 35% of the votes by the 59% of respondents who said they would vote, followed by independent candidate Victor Ponta, who is rated at 21.1%. Close behind is the general mayor Nicușor Dan with 20.8%.

The PSD-PNL-UDMR candidate in the presidential elections, Crin Antonescu, is ranked fourth with 16.4%. Meanwhile, reformist USR president Elena Lasconi, who reached the second round of last year's annulled elections, is rated with only 4.3% in the Verifield poll.

"As I have accustomed you, in the spirit of transparency, I share with you the most recent photograph of the moment," said Nicușor Dan on Facebook, alongside the Verifield poll.

The poll, which suggests a tight competition for second place, was conducted between March 24-28, 2025, on a sample of 1,100 people, after pro-Russian politician Calin Georgescu was barred from running. George Simion said he has the support of Georgescu in the presidential race.

Similarly, supporters of Nicusor Dan, who founded the reformist Union Save Romania (USR) party now led by Elena Lasconi, called on the latter to drop out of the race and back Dan, strenghtening his chances of entering the runoff round.

The big surprise of the poll, however, is the apparent growth of now-independent Victor Ponta. A previous CURS poll conducted between March 19-22 placed the AUR leader first with a score of 29%, followed by Crin Antonescu (22%), and Nicușor Dan (18%), Victor Ponta (13%), and Elena Lasconi (12%).

Two weeks ago, an AtlasIntel poll conducted for HotNews ranked Nicușor Dan in second place with 26%, behind George Simion, who was rated at 30.4%, but ahead of the joint candidate of PNL-PSD-UDMR, Crin Antonescu, who was credited with 17.9%. Victor Ponta was at only 9%.

The electoral campaign for the 2025 presidential elections in Romania will begin on April 4 and end on May 3 at 7:00 AM. The first round of voting for the presidential elections will take place on May 4, and the second round is scheduled for May 18.

(Photo source: George Simion, Victor Ponta, Nicusor Dan, Crin Antonescu on Facebook)