Far-right populist surprises in Romanian presidential election appearing set to enter runoff

A little-known, far-right populist took the lead in Romania’s presidential election Sunday, electoral data showed, and will likely face leftist Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu in a runoff in two weeks, an outcome that rocked the country’s political landscape.

Calin Georgescu, who ran independently, led the polls with around 22% of the vote, while Ciolacu of the Social Democratic Party, or PSD, trailed at 20%. Elena Lasconi of the Save Romania Union party, or USR, stood at about 18%, and George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, or AUR, took 14.1%.

After polls closed, 9.4 million people — about 52.4% of eligible voters — had cast ballots, according to the Central Election Bureau. The second round of the vote will be held Dec. 8.