The latest poll published ahead of the May presidential elections in Romania confirms the strong position of George Simion, leader of the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), and suggests that his challenger in the second round may be another candidate with far-right rhetoric: Victor Ponta, a former member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) now running as an independent.

The big surprise of the poll is the strong score for Ponta – a candidate who mimics far-right, pro-Russian politician Calin Georgescu, who was banned from running in the May presidential election, and is vocal in seeking approval from the Trump Administration. A previous CURS poll conducted between March 19-22 put Ponta on just 13%, well below both Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan and the ruling party’s candidate Crin Antonescu.

Simion is backed by 35% of the voters who said they would vote (59% of those polled), followed by Ponta (21.1%), in the Verifield poll commissioned by Dan and published on March 31.

Dan comes in third place with 20.8% – just close enough behind Ponta to motivate his electorate but not disappoint his voters.

"As I have accustomed you, in the spirit of transparency, I share with you the most recent photograph of the moment," wrote Dan on Facebook, alongside the Verifield poll.

Antonescu is ranked fourth with 16.4%. Dan’s rival for the moderate centre-right electorate, the leader of the reformist Save Romania Union (USR) Elena Lasconi, who ranked second in the annulled presidential elections last year, is rated only 4.3% in the Verifield poll. 

The poll, which suggests a close competition for second place, was conducted between March 24-28, 2025, on a sample of 1,100 people, after Georgescu was barred from running. Simion said he has the support of Georgescu in the presidential race.

Two weeks ago, an AtlasIntel poll conducted for HotNews ranked Dan in second place with 26%, behind Simion, who was rated at 30.4%, but ahead of  Antonescu (17.9%). Ponta was at only 9% in the poll 

The electoral campaign for the 2025 presidential elections in Romania will begin on April 4 and end on May 3 at 7:00 am. The first round of voting for the presidential elections will take place on May 4, and the second round is scheduled for May 18.