Bulgaria election: Iliana Iotova wins the presidential runoff with 57.6% and becomes the first woman elected president
Iliana Iotova and her running mate Kiril Valchev have won Bulgaria's presidential runoff, held on Sunday, 1 November. With 99.95% of polling station protocols processed, the Central Election Commission (CIK) gives them 57.58% of the vote, against 39.46% for Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev. Iotova becomes Bulgaria's seventh president and the first woman elected to the office. Gyurov conceded. Turnout was about 27%.
Bulgaria has elected Iliana Iotova as its president. In Sunday's runoff, the incumbent head of state and her running mate Kiril Valchev clearly beat the pair Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev, according to near-final figures from the Central Election Commission (CIK) released on Monday morning.
With 99.95% of polling station protocols processed, Iotova and Valchev received 1,093,564 votes, or 57.58%. Gyurov and Kandev got 749,543 votes, or 39.46%. Another 56,070 voters, 2.95%, chose the option "I do not support any of the candidates". Turnout was about 27%, Bulgarian National Radio reported.
Iotova came first in 28 of the country's electoral districts. Gyurov won only three: Sofia's 23rd and 24th districts and Kardzhali. He also led among Bulgarians abroad, with 55.4% against 42.2% for Iotova, with more than 91% of the protocols from polling stations abroad counted.
The result is a big step up from the first round on 25 October, when Iotova and Valchev led with about 34.6% against 32% for Gyurov and Kandev, Reuters noted. The parallel counts by five polling agencies on Sunday night had already put Iotova between 56.6% and 58.2%, according to Anadolu Agency.
"We accept the results as they stand, surprising as the discrepancy between the exit polls and the parallel vote count may be. Ultimately, this is how Bulgarian citizens have voted," Gyurov said. He added that the campaign was over, but the responsibility was not, and called for unity rather than division.
Iotova said voters had chosen dialogue over division. "Citizens have placed their trust in a policy of dialogue, rather than one of division," she said, thanking the parties that backed her, including Prime Minister Rumen Radev's ruling Progressive Bulgaria. Radev said the result confirmed the government was on the right course. Iotova's new five-year term begins on 22 January 2027; Valchev said ties with Bulgarians abroad and young people would be among his priorities as vice president.