2024 Romanian local elections
Local elections are most probably set to be held in Romania in September 2024. They will be the eight post-1989 local elections in the country. The previous Romanian local elections in 2020 were won by the National Liberal Party (PNL), even though the Social Democratic Party (PSD) came in with significantly more County Council (CJ) presidents and mayors than the national liberals.
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All 41 County Council Presidents 1,340 County Council Councillors All 3,176 Mayors 39,900 Local Council Councillors | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Therefore, the de facto winner of the previous Romanian local elections was the Social Democratic Party (PSD), in spite of the de jure one which was the National Liberal Party (PNL), according to popular vote and thereby overall political score.
Furthermore, the 2020 USR-PLUS Alliance (now simply legally known as USR which is short for Save Romania Union) came in third with respect to popular vote yet failed to obtain an important nationwide representation (for mayors, local and municipal councillors, and county councillors alike). In the meantime, the PNL enlarged itself at local political level nationwide with the integral absorption of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) during late March 2022.[1]
The main six political contenders in the forthcoming Romanian local elections will be the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the National Liberal Party (PNL), Save Romania Union (USR; formerly USR PLUS), the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR/RMDSZ), the People's Movement Party (PMP), and PRO Romania (PRO).
Background
The government which will organize the forthcoming Romanian local elections will very likely be the Ciolacu Cabinet representing the National Coalition for Romania (CNR) with a Social Democratic (PSD) Prime Minister, most probably in the person of incumbent head of government Marcel Ciolacu.
Most opinion polls to date (depicted in the tables from the sections below) show the Social Democratic Party (PSD) as either the main or overall winning party in several major cities and towns across Romania, including, most notably, the capital, Bucharest.
In Bucharest, incumbent mayor Nicușor Dan has recently expressed his intention to candidate again, hoping that he will be supported by the main centre-right political parties which previously endorsed him in the 2020 Romanian local elections.[2][3] However, as of October 2023, the National Liberal Party (PNL) already declined its support for Nicușor Dan for another term as Mayor of Bucharest (PGMB).[4] At the same time, Dan announced he will run as an independent candidate, as in 2020, and that he hopes he will be supported by as many centre-right political parties as possible.
In stark contrast, several other major cities are shown to favour Save Romania Union (USR) in their public administration thus far and others the National Liberal Party (PNL). The current political trend, according to the polls, is that the Social Democratic Party (PSD) is the dominant political party in the south and east of Romania (i.e. in Muntenia, Oltenia, Dobrogea, and Western Moldavia respectively), the National Liberal Party (PNL) in the centre and north of the country (i.e. in Transylvania and Bukovina), and Save Romania Union (USR), sporadically at urban level in the south-western part of the country, more specifically in Banat.
Opinion polls
National results in 2020
In the table below are highlighted the major electoral scores (or results) obtained by the 6 largest political parties in Romania at the previous local elections which here held in September 2020:
| Date | Results | Electorate | PNL | PSD | USR | PMP | UDMR | PRO | Others | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 Sep 2020 | 2020 election | 8,419,028 | 32.32% | 23.16% | 8.89% | 6.04% | 4.87% | 4.68% | 20.04% | 9.16% |
National polling
In the table below are represented the prospective results of the 6 main political parties active in Romania at local political level for the forthcoming local elections which are going to be held in 2024:
| Date | Sample size | Source | PNL | PSD | USR | PMP | UDMR | PRO | Others | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6–19 Oct 2022 | — | CURS | 22.0%  |
31.0%  |
11.0% |
4.0% |
— | 4.0% |
14.0% |
9.0% |
Regional polls
Bucharest
| Date | Poll source | PSD | USR | PNL | PMP | AUR | PV | PRO | PUSL | ApP | Others | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2023 | ISPAP | 33.0 | 12.0 | 18.0 | 4.0 | 14.0 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 11.0 | 15.0 |
| Nov 2022 | ISPAP | 36.0 | 13.0 | 21.0 | 4.0 | 10.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 10.0 | 15.0 |
| Sep 2022 | Digi24 | 34.0 | 12.0 | 25.0 | 3.0 | 13.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 7.0 | 9.0 |
| Aug 2022 | CURS | 32.0 | 10.0 | 23.0 | 4.0 | 12.0 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 6.0 | 9.0 |
| Jun 2022 | CURS | 33.0 | 10.0 | 22.0 | 5.0 | 14.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 7.0 | 11.0 |
| Mar 2022 | ISPAP | 33.0 | 17.0 | 13.0 | 2.0 | 10.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 12.0[5] | 16.0 |
| 14–20 Jan 2022 | CURS | 34.0 | 17.0 | 17.0 | 6.0 | 13.0 | — | 2.0 | 5.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 17.0 |
| Nov 2021 | ISPAP | 35.0 | 23.5 | 15.0 | 6.0 | 12.0 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 11.5 |
| 12–21 Oct 2021 | ISPAP | 34.0 | 24.0 | 17.0 | 7.0 | 10.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 10.0 |
| 17–23 Sep 2021 | CURS | 33.0 | 23.0 | 21.0 | 4.0 | 8.0 | — | 3.0 | 4.0 | — | — | 10.0 |
| Jul 2021 | CURS | 32.0 | 25.0 | 22.0 | 4.0 | 8.0 | — | 2.0 | 4.0 | — | — | 7.0 |
| May 2021 | CURS | 29.0 | 27.0 | 22.0 | 4.0 | 9.0 | — | 3.0 | 4.0 | — | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Mar 2021 | CURS | 32.0 | 27.0 | 20.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 | — | 2.0 | 4.0 | — | 3.0 | 5.0 |
| 26 Sep 2020 | Election | 32.38 | 26.98 | 22.24[6] | 7.82 | 0.88 | 1.81 | 1.72 | 0.95 | — | 6.3 | 5.0 |
Seats projection
| Date | PSD | USR | PNL | PMP | AUR | PV | PUSL | ApP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2022 | 25 | 8 | 14 | — | 8 | — | — | — |
| Jul 2022 | 26 | 8 | 12 | — | 6 | — | — | 3 |
| Jun 2022 | 25 | 9 | 11 | — | 6 | — | — | 4 |
| Jun 2022 | 23 | 7 | 15 | — | 10 | — | — | — |
| May 2022 | 23 | 11 | 9 | — | 5 | — | 3 | 4 |
| Mar 2022 | 25 | 13 | 10 | — | 7 | — | — | — |
| Jan 2022 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 7 | — | 3 | — |
| Jan 2022 | 21 | 15 | 8 | — | 11 | — | — | — |
| 2021 | 21 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 6 | — | — | — |
| Jul 2021 | 20 | 16 | 14 | — | 5 | — | — | — |
| May 2021 | 18 | 17 | 14 | — | 6 | — | — | — |
| Mar 2021 | 20 | 16 | 12 | 3 | 4 | — | — | — |
| 26 Sep 2020 | 21 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
Mayor of Bucharest
| Date | Poll sources | Others | Lead | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7–14 September 2022 | Avangarde | 18.0 | 14.0 | 18.0 | 30.0 | 4.0 | —[lower-alpha 1] | 4.0 | 12.0 |
| Jan 2022 | ISPAP | 13.0 | 14.0 | 9.0 | 34.0 | 6.0 | 15.0 | 9.0 | 21.0 |
| 32.0 | — | — | 35.0 | 7.0 | 16.0 | 10.0 | 3.0 | ||
| Nov 2021 | ISPAP | 15.0 | 14.0 | 12.0 | 34.0 | 7.0 | 13.0 | 5.0 | 19.0 |
| 36.0 | — | — | 35.0 | 8.0 | 14.0 | 7.0 | 1.0 | ||
| 27 Sep 2020 | 2020 election | 42.81 | 37.97 | 10.99 | 0.67 | 7.56 | 4.84 | ||
Constanța
| Date | Poll source | PNL | USR | PSD | PMP | AUR | PV | Others | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2023 | Ziua CT | 10.0 | 23.0 | 15.0 | 3.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 29.0 | 8.0 |
| Jan 2023 | ISPAP | 20.0 | 17.0 | 29.0 | 3.0 | 14.0 | 3.0 | 14.0 | 9.0 |
| May 2022 | ISPAP | 18.0 | 18.0 | 28.0 | 2.0 | 12.0 | 2.0 | 20.0 | 10.0 |
| 6 Dec 2020 | Parliament | 26.1 | 26.4 | 22.3 | 4.2 | 8.9 | 0.9 | 11.3 | 0.3 |
| 27 September 2020 | Election | 27.7 | 23.9 | 19.9 | 4.7 | — | 1.8 | 22.1 | 3.8 |
Iași
| Date | Poll source | PNL | USR | PSD | AUR | PMP | PV | Others | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2022 | ISPAP | 23.0 | 18.0 | 26.0 | 12.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 |
| Jul 2022 | ISPAP | 21.0 | 18.0 | 28.0 | 9.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 17.0 | 12.0 |
| Feb 2022 | ISPAP | 12.0 | 22.0 | 28.0 | 16.0 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 16.0 | 6.0 |
| Jan 2022 | ISPAP | 18.0 | 27.0 | 26.0 | 17.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 7.0 | 1.0 |
| 6 Dec 2020 | Parliament | 21.4 | 31.7 | 21.0 | 8.7 | 5.7 | 1.3 | 11.5 | 10.3 |
| 27 September 2020 | Election | 32.2 | 29.0 | 16.4 | 1.4 | 5.1 | 3.8 | 8.4 | 3.2 |
Târgu Jiu
| Date | Poll source | PNL | PSD | PRO | PV | USR | AUR | PMP | Others | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2023 | ISPAP | 26.0 | 28.0 | 5.0 | 17.0 | 7.0 | 5.0 | 2.0 | 10.0 | 2.0 |
| Nov 2022 | ISPAP | 28.0 | 29.0 | 6.0 | 14.0 | 8.0 | 6.0 | 2.0 | 7.0 | 1.0 |
| Sep 2022 | ISPAP | 29.0 | 26.0 | 6.0 | 16.0 | 7.0 | 5.0 | 2.0 | 9.0 | 3.0 |
| Dec 2021 | ISPAP | 17.0 | 35.0 | 6.0 | 10.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 4.0 | 11.0 | 18.0 |
| Nov 2021 | ISPAP | 20.0 | 35.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 3.0 | 7.0 | 15.0 |
| 6 Dec 2020 | Parliament | 21.6 | 34.6 | 8.3 | 3.4 | 14.2 | 6.3 | 4.5 | 7.0 | 13.0 |
| 26 Sep 2020 | Election | 37.4 | 27.8 | 7.6 | 6.5 | 5.6 | — | 4.9 | 10.3 | 9.6 |
Results
Alba
| Party | Voters | % | Seats | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PNL | |||||
| PSD | |||||
| USR | |||||
| UDMR/RMDSZ | |||||
| PMP | |||||
| PV | |||||
| AUR | |||||
| Others | |||||
| Invalid/blank votes | - | ||||
| Total | 32 | | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | - | | |||
| Source: TBA | |||||
Arad
| Party | Voters | % | Seats | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PNL | |||||
| PSD | |||||
| USR | |||||
| UDMR/RMDSZ | |||||
| PMP | |||||
| PV | |||||
| AUR | |||||
| Others | |||||
| Invalid/blank votes | - | ||||
| Total | 32 | | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | - | | |||
| Source: TBA | |||||
Argeș
| Party | Voters | % | Seats | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSD | |||||
| PNL | |||||
| USR | |||||
| PMP | |||||
| PV | |||||
| AUR | |||||
| Others | |||||
| Invalid/blank votes | - | ||||
| Total | 34 | | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | - | | |||
| Source: TBA | |||||
Bacău
| Party | Voters | % | Seats | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSD | |||||
| PNL | |||||
| USR | |||||
| PMP | |||||
| PV | |||||
| AUR | |||||
| Others | |||||
| Invalid/blank votes | - | ||||
| Total | 36 | | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | - | | |||
| Source: TBA | |||||
Bihor
| Party | Voters | % | Seats | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PNL | |||||
| PSD | |||||
| UDMR/RMDSZ | |||||
| PMP | |||||
| PV | |||||
| AUR | |||||
| USR | |||||
| Others | |||||
| Invalid/blank votes | - | ||||
| Total | 34 | | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | - | | |||
| Source: TBA | |||||
Current distribution of administrative mandates at local political level in Romania
In the table below are statistically represented the vast majority of the administrative mandates won nationwide in Romania by the following 12 political parties (both major and minor) after the 2020 Romanian local elections (based on their total number of elected representatives) as well as their current distribution of administrative mandates previously won in Romania in 2020 at local political level, according to the 4 main categories as follows (statistics correct as of late October 2023):
Notes
- George Simion, the leader of AUR was credited with 12% instead in this poll.
- PNL had entirely absorbed ALDE during late March 2022, therefore the figures associated here with PNL include seats previously won by ALDE in 2020 as well. In addition, the figures here also include a party-switching mayor from AUR who subsequently joined the party in June 2022.
- AUR lost one of its three mayors in June 2022. The respective mayor was from Vrancea County and switched, at that time, to PNL.[7]
References
- Redacția HotNews.ro (22 March 2022). "Florin Cîţu: Conducerea PNL a aprobat fuziunea cu ALDE". HotNews.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 26 April 2022.
- Alina Popescu (16 August 2023). "Nicușor Dan: Ca primar al Bucureștiului, Gabriela Firea a fost un dezastru. A dus Primăria în faliment". Digi24.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 17 August 2023.
- Claudia Bancas (16 August 2023). "Nicuşor Dan: Îmi doresc să fiu candidatul dreptei, aşa cum a fost în 2020. Nu văd de ce lucrurile pornite împreună s-ar întrerupe". Digi24.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 17 August 2023.
- Financial Intelligence (9 October 2023). "Rareș Bogdan: PNL nu îl mai susține pe Nicușor Dan pentru un nou mandat". Financial Intelligence (in Romanian). Retrieved 13 October 2023.
- FD 3%
- PNL had entirely absorbed ALDE during late March 2022, therefore the figures associated here with PNL include seats previously won by ALDE in 2020 as well.
- Liviu Cojan (17 June 2022). "Singurul primar AUR din Vrancea a trecut la PNL. Un deputat al partidului spune că acesta ar fi fost șantajat de liberali". Digi24.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 17 June 2022.
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