Local elections were held in Romania on 9 June 2024. They were the eighth 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 Presidents and mayors than the National Liberals.
Therefore, the de facto winner of the previous Romanian local elections was the Social Democratic Party, in spite of the de jure victory of the National Liberal Party, according to popular vote and thereby overall political score.
The 2020 USR-PLUS Alliance (which formally fused into a single political party and changed its name to the Save Romania Union) came in third with respect to popular vote yet failed to obtain an important nationwide representation (for mayors, local councilors or county councilors). Meanwhile, 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.
The main five political contenders in the 2024 Romanian local elections were the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, the United Right Alliance, and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania.
Background The government that organized the local elections were the Ciolacu Cabinet representing the National Coalition for Romania (CNR), a grand coalition between the two largest political parties in Romania in terms of parliamentary and local representation.
In response to the formation of an electoral alliance between the two members of the CNR for the 2024 European Parliament election in Romania, as well as locally in some races, the Save Romania Union, People's Movement Party and Force of the Right came together to form the United Right Alliance.
Following the 2020 Romanian parliamentary election, the right-wing populist Alliance for the Union of Romanians became a new serious contender in Romanian politics. Ahead of the elections, the party organized a recruitment drive to enlarge its presence at a local level. As a result, it became the party with the third largest number of candidates after the PSD and PNL.
In Bucharest, incumbent mayor Nicușor Dan had expressed his intention to be a 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. However, the National Liberal Party declined to support Nicușor Dan for another term as Mayor of Bucharest, choosing instead to form an electoral alliance with the Social Democrats and back a common candidate, namely Cătălin Cîrstoiu. After a brief scandal surrounding Cîrstoiu however, the two parties decided to run opposing candidates for the Mayor of Bucharest election, maintaining the alliance only at the sector level. Polling indicated the PSD candidate, Gabriela Firea was going to be the main competitor to Dan, who announced he will run as an independent candidate, as in 2020, and received the backing of the ADU and REPER.
Most opinion polls showed 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. The political trend, according to the polls, was that the Social Democratic Party is the dominant political party in the south and east of Romania (i.e. in Muntenia, Oltenia and Western Moldavia), the National Liberal Party in the centre and north of the country (i.e. in Transylvania and Bukovina), the Save Romania Union sporadically at urban level throughout the country, predominantly in the south-western part of the country, in Banat, and the Alliance for the Union of Romanians maintaining a somewhat consistent presence throughout the country, with lower scores in urban areas.
Electoral system Local elections are organized in Romania to elect 4 local authorities: the County Council President, County Council, mayor and Local Council. The electoral system for local elections in Romania is outlined in Law no. 115 of May 19, 2015. Candidates for the office of mayor, County Council President as well as Local and County Councils councilor are elected by popular vote. They serve a four-year term, with the possibility of re-election. Voters vote for candidates or lists of candidates competing in their specific constituency. +CountyCommunes, towns and municipalitiesExecutive authorityLegislative authorityExecutive authorityLegislative authorityCounty Council PresidentCounty CouncilMayorLocal Council The mayors and County Council Presidents are elected in a single round of voting. The candidate who obtains the most validly cast votes is elected. In the event of a tie, a runoff voting round is organized. For County and Local Councils, the threshold for earning seats is determined by the constituency electoral bureau. It is 5% in the case of party lists, 7% for electoral alliances with two member parties, and 8% if the alliance includes three or more members.
Independent candidates can run for any of the offices up for election if they provide a list of names and signatures proving they are supported by at least 1% of eligible voters in the constituency where they intend to run. This number cannot be smaller than 100 people in communes, 500 in towns, 1,000 in municipalities and 2,000 for County-level offices.
Results Summary +Political party/allianceCounty-levelU.A.T.-levelCounty Council PresidentsCounty Council CouncilorsMayorsLocal Council Councilors PSD51882679PNL553 1415UDMR / RMDSZ12 164 AUR1593447ADUUSR62375PMP48 1899FDNewNewNewNewFDGR / DFDR15PUSL259AMT / EMSZ5134REPERNewNewNewNewAERPER5 295PV79Romania in Action2121UIPSTBDPPRNewNewNewTBDNewBSRNewNewNewTBDNewUURTBDUDSCRTBDPRPE1TBDFCM / MPENewNewNewTBDNewSOS RONewNewNewNewPRO5636 1774PRM9POL230AD9CurajNewNewNewNewDemosNewNewNewNewIndependents
Bucharest
General Council ElectionMayoral ElectionPartyVotes%SeatsMapADU200,10227.61175 PSD192,48426.56165PNL91,28212.5975PUSL67,9889.3866 AUR59,2058.1655REPER52,1397.1944Others61,4948.47-Total724,694100%55Turnout 41.24%Elected County CouncilSource: Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă (AEP)
Alba - Political party of the elected County Council President County Council ElectionMayoral ElectionPartyVotes%SeatsMapPNL70,84044.07%172 PSD44,60927.75%104 AUR19,92612.39%55ADU11,4167.10%07Others13,9538.66%-Total160,744100%32Turnout 54.86%Elected County CouncilSource: Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă (AEP)
Arad - Political party of the elected County Council President County Council ElectionMayoral ElectionPartyVotes%SeatsMapPNL70,47438.39134 PSD46,82225.5196 AUR27,34914.9055ADU15,7618.5834UDMR/RMDSZ12,8316.992Others10,2915.60-Total183,528100%32Turnout 49.58%Elected County CouncilSource: Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă (AEP)
Argeș - Political party of the elected County Council President County Council ElectionMayoral ElectionPartyVotes%SeatsMap PSD119,57645.13161PNL56,11421.1883ADU35,73413.4851 AUR35,70313.4755Others17,8116,71-Total264,938100%34Turnout 54.16%Elected County CouncilSource: Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă (AEP)
Bacău - Political party of the elected County Council President County Council ElectionMayoral ElectionPartyVotes%SeatsMap PSD85,89834.94152PNL70,01928.48124 AUR26,22610.6655ADU25,41610.3342Others38,26315.54-Total245,822100%36Turnout 44.79%Elected County CouncilSource: Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă (AEP)
Bihor - Political party of the elected County Council President County Council ElectionMayoral ElectionPartyVotes%SeatsMapPNL137,17650.84184UDMR/RMDSZ54,08720.0471 PSD48,22717.8771 AUR13,5875.0322Others16,6936.15-Total269,770100%34Turnout 55.88%Elected County CouncilSource: Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă (AEP)
Bistrița-Năsăud - Political party of the elected County Council President County Council ElectionMayoral ElectionPartyVotes%SeatsMap PSD58,93443.2414PNL38,91128.55102 AUR16,06711.7844UDMR/RMDSZ8,8596.5022ADU8,4086.1604Others5,1043.73-Total136,283100%30Turnout 55.74%Elected County CouncilSource: Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă (AEP)
Botoșani - Political party of the elected County Council President County Council ElectionMayoral ElectionPartyVotes%SeatsMap PSD66,63941.2315PNL66,37041.06142 AUR12,9197.9933Others15,6999.68-Total161,627100%32Turnout 45.94%Elected County CouncilSource: Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă (AEP)
Brașov - Political party of the elected County Council President County Council ElectionMayoral ElectionPartyVotes%SeatsMapPNL74,67630.48115ADU55,83022.788 PSD54,33322.178 AUR28,15411.4944UDMR/RMDSZ17,3817.0933Others14,6235.96-Total244,997100%34Turnout 49.81%Elected County CouncilSource: Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă (AEP)
Brăila - Political party of the elected County Council President County Council ElectionMayoral ElectionPartyVotes%SeatsMap PSD63,56850.77181PNL30,63424.4682 AUR14,39311.4944ADU6,5335.2103Others10,0648.02-Total125,192100%30Turnout 47.72%Elected County CouncilSource: Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă (AEP)
Buzău - Political party of the elected County Council President County Council ElectionMayoral ElectionPartyVotes%SeatsMap PSD104,19254.7921PNL37,55319.757 AUR20,86110.9744ADU14,5777.6604Others12,9586.08-Total190,141100%32Turnout 55.01%Elected County CouncilSource: Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă (AEP)
Caraș-Severin - Political party of the elected County Council President County Council ElectionMayoral ElectionPartyVotes%SeatsMap PSD50,52340.45144PNL45,97736.81124 AUR14,58411.6744ADU6,8395.4704Others6,9625.57-Total100%30Turnout 51.62%Elected County CouncilSource: Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă (AEP)
Călărași - Political party of the elected County Council President County Council ElectionMayoral ElectionPartyVotes%SeatsMap PSD66,45950.53172PNL35,92527.3194 AUR15,55711.8244Others13,57210.31-Total131,513100%30Turnout 57.22%Elected County CouncilSource: Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă (AEP)
Cluj - Political party of the elected County Council President County Council ElectionMayoral ElectionPartyVotes%SeatsMapPNL96,47932.26136 PSD53,44517.8772ADU44,54814.8961UDMR/RMDSZ43,47714.5361 AUR31,17010.4244Others29,93710.00-Total299,056100%36Turnout 50.06%Elected County CouncilSource: Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă (AEP)
Constanța - Political party of the elected County Council President County Council ElectionMayoral ElectionPartyVotes%SeatsMapPNL104,97036.3615 PSD69,87524.2010 AUR45,63515.8166ADU36,75212.7353Others31,43110.86-Total288,663100%36Turnout 49.19%Elected County CouncilSource: Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă (AEP)
Covasna - Political party of the elected County Council President County Council ElectionMayoral ElectionPartyVotes%SeatsMapUDMR/RMDSZ56,73066.5322 PSD8,2029.6931PNL6,9068.103 AUR4,5205.3022Others8,90010.43-Total85,258100%30Turnout 50.74%Elected County CouncilSource: Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă (AEP)
Dâmbovița - Political party of the elected County Council President County Council ElectionMayoral ElectionPartyVotes%SeatsMap PSD134,46258.91225PNL57,02924.9894 AUR19,1378.3833ADU13,8536.070Others3,7341.63-Total228,215100%34Turnout 56.62%Elected County CouncilSource: Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă (AEP)
Dolj - Political party of the elected County Council President County Council ElectionMayoral ElectionPartyVotes%SeatsMap PSD150,75954.79215PNL64,69923.5194 AUR25,3099.1933ADU22,1098.0331Others12,2444.44-Total275,120100%36Turnout 51.49%Elected County CouncilSource: Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă (AEP) Giurgiu - Political party of the elected County Council President County Council ElectionMayoral ElectionPartyVotes%SeatsMapPNL69,98355.07171 PSD35,95028.2993 AUR10,1718.0022USR7,4885.8922Others3,4772.73-Total127,069100%30Turnout 60.01%Elected County CouncilSource: Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă (AEP)
Harghita