George Simion has emerged as the undisputed winner of the first round of the presidential elections in Romania. In the second round of voting, scheduled for May 18, he will face Nicușor Dan, the Mayor of Bucharest. The mayor of the Romanian capital surpassed Crin Antonescu, the candidate backed by the governing coalition.
The leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) secured nearly 4 million votes, amounting to close to 41 percent of the electoral support. The contest for second place was intense, with the ballot count remaining suspenseful until the very end.
Ultimately, after all votes were tallied, the margin between the two subsequent candidates was a mere 87,000 votes. Crin Antonescu, who had the support of the government, was eliminated from the race for the second round, garnering 20.07 percent of the vote.
On May 18, George Simion will face Nicușor Dan, who received 20.99 percent of the votes. Dan, the founder of the liberal Save Romania Union (USR), entered the list of candidates only in the re-run of the elections, which was called after the initial vote was annulled and rescheduled.
Repeat Elections
Romanians first went to the polls in November 2024. The initial round was decisively won by independent candidate Călin Georgescu. He was to compete in the second round against Elena Lasconi (who later obtained less than 3 percent of the vote in the re-run). However, in December of the same year, during the overseas diaspora vote, the Constitutional Court annulled the election and ordered the entire process to be restarted. The reason cited was allegations against Georgescu, who was accused of campaign misconduct and violations of fair electoral competition.
In the re-registration process, Georgescu was barred from running again. He subsequently endorsed George Simion, the vice-chair of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), who entered the race alongside ten other candidates.
This unprecedented situation in Romania is being closely monitored by the international community, particularly in countries where elections are forthcoming, such as Poland.