Ultranationalist candidate Călin Georgescu leads in voters’ preferences, while Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan is placed second, qualifying for the runoff, a recent poll conducted by CURS shows.

Georgescu, the winner of the first round of the annulled presidential elections held at the end of last year, would gather 37% of the votes in the first round. Dan is credited with 21% of the votes, while Crin Antonescu, the candidate of the governing coalition made up of the Social Democrat Party (PSD), the National Liberal Party (PNL), and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), ranks third with 18%. Elena Lasconi, the president of the Save Romania Union, would gather 7% of the votes, the poll showed.

An Avangarde poll released last week showed Georgescu with a similar percentage (38%), but competing with Crin Antonescu in the second round.

The CURS poll also tested a scenario where Georgescu does not enter the presidential race. This leaves the first spot to George Simion, the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) leader, credited with 25% of the votes. Simion, who placed fourth (13.86%) in last year’s elections, has said he will not run again but will instead support Georgescu’s bid. Dan would still place second, with 24% of the votes, followed by Crin Antonescu (23%) and Elena Lasconi (13%).

The CURS poll was conducted between January 21 and January 25, among 1,100 respondents. The maximum error is +/- 3%.

In last year’s elections Georgescu won 22.94% of the votes, while Lasconi claimed the second spot with 19.18%. The polls conducted before the 2024 elections didn't capture the voters’ preference for Georgescu, who managed to deliver a shock win.

The first round of the presidential elections is scheduled for May 4 and the second for May 18.

(Photo: Andrii Yalanskyi/ Dreamstime)

simona@romania-insider.com