Centrist Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan leads nationalist candidate George Simion by four points for this weekend’s presidential runoff, according to an opinion poll released Thursday.
It was the first time that the 55-year-old pro-European has been ahead in an opinion poll, but the survey did not question Romania’s diaspora where the Euroskeptic Simion is more popular than Dan.
The IRSOP poll measures people’s voting intentions from May 10-13 ahead of the May 18 second round the presidential elections. .
Some 52% of those surveyed were in favor of Dan, while 48% preferred Simion. IRSOP opinion polling agency said the figures were based on people who said they were likely to vote. They estimated a voter turnout of more than 60%.
Some 51% questioned would like a governing duo of Nicuşor Dan as president and interim President Ilie Bolojan as prime minister, while 42% opted for George Simion with Călin Georgescu, whose surprise first place in the first round led to elections being cancelled over Russian interference. Seven percent did not respond.
IRSOP interviewed 951 people by phone between May 10-13, 2025 and the sample is representative of the Romanian population aged over 18 years. The margin of error was +/-3.2% at a 95% confidence level. The survey is funded by IRSOP.
An AtlasIntel poll earlier this week showed a tie between the two candidates, with both on 48.2%. An earlier survey put George Simion is ahead of Nicusor Dan by 4 percent, the score being 52%-42%.
