2023 Sofia mayoral election

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2023 Sofia mayoral elections
← 2019 29 October and 5 November 2027 →
 
Candidate Vassil Terziev Vanya Grigorova Anton Hekimyan [bg]
Party PP–DB—SS BSP for Bulgaria GERB—SDS
First round 119,121
31.80% 		80,875
21.59% 		66,792
17.83%
Second round 175,044
48.20% 		170,258
46.89% 		Eliminated
 
Candidate Deyan Nikolov [bg] Vili Lilkov Ivaylo Vulchev [bg]
Party Revival Conservative Union of the Right ITN
First round 29,052
7.76% 		21,326
5.69% 		11,861
3.17%
Second round Eliminated Eliminated Eliminated
Mayor before election

Yordanka Fandakova
GERB

Elected Mayor

Vassil Terziev
PP-DB—Spasi Sofia

The 2023 Sofia mayoral election was held on 29 October 2023, during the 2023 Bulgarian local elections.

Background[edit]

See also: 2019 Bulgarian local elections

For the past 14 years (since 2009), the mayor of Sofia has been Yordanka Fandakova, from the party GERB.[1]

Fandakova served four terms, including three full terms, as mayor of Sofia, becoming the first woman to serve in the position and the longest serving mayor of Sofia.[2][3]

During Fandakova's time in office, the public transportation system has been expanded, in particular with a number of projects aimed at expanding the Sofia metro.[4][5] Additionally, Fandakova has taken credit for initiating the project "Green Sofia", which is supposed to support initiatives meant to make Sofia more environmentally friendly.[6][7]

However, Fandakova's tenure as mayor has also come under scrutiny.[8] Fandakova has been accused of allowing corruption in new construction projects.[9][10] Specifically, critics of Fandakova have identified the construction of the new metro lines as a source of corruption, often leading to inefficient results.[11]

Calls for Fandakova to resign increased in the period between 2018 and 2019, with her vice-mayor, Evgeni Krusev, resigning his position due to mismanagement of repairs in the "Grafa" district.[12] However, Fandakova herself refused to resign, and sought a third term as Mayor in the 2019 Sofia Mayoral Elections.[13] Fandakova faced a challenge in the 2019 elections, from BSP-supported independent, Maya Manolova, VMRO candidate Dzhambanski and leader of the civic organisation Spasi Sofia, Boris Bonev, as well as other candidates.[14][15] According to some polls, Maya Manolova was even in the lead, ahead of the incumbent.[16] Fandakova ended up narrowly defeating Manalova in the second round,[17] although Manolova has claimed that election fraud took place, and called for a recount.[18]

Candidates[edit]

Every Bulgarian citizen older than 18 and who is registered in Sofia City is allowed to run for the position of Sofia Mayor.[19]

Announced and Registered[edit]

Candidate name, age,
political party 		Political offices Endorsing parties Campaign announcement
Vasil Terziev (45)
PP–DB 		Vasil Terziev
  • Entrepreneur, founder of the Software Company, Telerik
 27 June 2023[21]
Deyan Nikolov (34)
Revival 		Deyan Nikolov 4 July 2023[22]
Vili Lilkov (69)
Independent 		Vili Lilkov 16 July 2023[28]
Vanya Grigorova (45)
Independent
  • Economist advisor the chairman of the trade union "Podkrepa"
 25 August 2023[30]
Radostin Vasilev
(39)
Independent 		Radostin Vasilev
  • Member of the Bulgarian National Assembly (2021-present)
  • Strong Bulgaria
 5th September 2023[31]
Mariya Koleva
(63)
Pravoto
  • Leader of Pravoto (2019–present)
  • Pravoto
 6 September 2023[32]
Karlos Kontrera
(37)
VMRO 		17th September 2023[33]
Alexander Tomov
(70)
BSDE
  • Member of the 7th Grand National Assembly (1990-1991)
  • Member of the 38th and 40th National Assembly (1994-2001)
  • Leader of the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party "Euro-Left" (2003-)
 17th September 2023[34]
Krasimir Stoychev
(68)
Independent
  • Owner of the mobile phone operator "Citron" (1992-1997)
  • Consultant for the development of Green Energy in Bulgaria
 20th September 2023[35]
Simeon Ananiev
(68)
Independent
  • Acting head of the "Bulgarian Railroad Association" (2006-2010)
  • Chairman of the "Green Transport" Organization
 19th September 2023[36]
Ivaylo Valchev
(52)
ITN 		Ivaylo Vulchev
  • Member of the Bulgarian National Assembly (2022-present)
 21st September 2023[37]
Anton Hekimyan
(39)
Independent
  • Director of the BTV news and sports section (2020-2023)
 21 September 2023[38]
Violeta Komitova
(67)
Bulgarian Rise 		27 September 2023[39]
Svetoslav Vitkov
(67)
People's Voice 		27 September 2023[40]
Asen Angelov
(45)
Independent
  • Acting Head of the Bulgarian Employment Agency (2005-2010)
  • Administrative Secretary of the government owned "Agrarian Fund" (2013-2015)
 28 September 2023[41]
Mazhd Algafari
(56)
Independent
  • Journalist
 28 September 2023[42]
Petar Klisarov
(56)
Direct Democracy
  • Leader of the party "Direct Democracy" (2014-)
 28 September 2023[43]
Kamen Dyulgerov
(45)
Independent
  • Businessman
  • Bulgarian Voice
 28 September 2023[44]
Emil Atanasov
BSD
  • Actor
  • Founder and Chairman of the "Professional Syndicate of Bulgarian Actors" (2016-)
  • Bulgarian Social-Democrats
 28 September 2023[45]
Georgi Nedelchev
BUDD
  • Leader of the party "Bulgarian Union for Direct Democracy" (2015-)
 28 September 2023[46]
Kalin Krulev
ONB
  • Former candidate for the party NFSB (2021)
  • Lead candidate for ONB in Lovech and Sofia (2022-2023)
 28 September 2023[47]
Teodor Dechev
(62)
BSDP
  • Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs in the Kostov Government (1997-2001)
  • Chief Editor of the newspaper "Svoboda" (2012-2013)
 2 October 2023[48]

Registration denied[edit]

The following candidates were not registered as candidates for the Sofia Mayoral Election, despite announcing their intention to participate in it.

  • Hristo Popov, anti-vaccine activist who announced his intention to participate in the Sofia Mayoral Elections as an independent candidate.[49] Registration denied by the Oblast Electoral Commission (OEC).
  • Atanas Stefanov, subdeacon, famous for his protest against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and removing the Ukrainian flag, who announced his intention to participate in the Sofia Mayoral Elections as an independent candidate.[50] Registration denied by the Oblast Electoral Commission (OEC).

Withdrawn[edit]

The following candidates withdrew from the race from the Sofia Mayoral Election before the registration date.

  • Nikola Vaptsarov, announced his candidacy on the 20th of July, endorsed by Stand Up.BG,[51] implicitly endorsed Vanya Grigorova and did not submit his candidacy.

Declined[edit]

The following individuals were speculated to have been interested in running within the Sofia Mayoral election, but eventually decided not to run.

GERB[edit]

PP-DB[edit]

BSPzB[edit]

  • Ivan Takov, leader of the Sofia city branch of the BSP, nominated by local chapters of BSP-Sofia for mayor.[59] Endorsed Vanya Grigorova.
  • Maya Manolova, leader of the political party Stand Up.BG and BSP supported candidate in the 2019 Sofia Mayoral election. Declined to participate in the 2023 Sofia Mayoral Election and instead endorsed a "unity left candidate".[60]

Other[edit]

  • Ivan Shishkov, former Caretaker Minister of Regional Development in the Donev I & Donev II. Served as deputy minister of Regional Development in the Stefan Yanev caretaker cabinets. Professionally is an architect. Has expressed interest in running for Mayor of Sofia,[61][62] however did not end up filing for registration.

First Round Campaign[edit]

Vasil Terziev campaign[edit]

Vasil Terziev was announced as the joint candidate of PPDB, Spasi Sofia and Team for Sofia on the 27 June 2023.

Vanya Grigorova campaign[edit]

Anton Hekimyan campaign[edit]

Deyan Nikolov campaign[edit]

Vili Lilkov campaign[edit]

Other candidates campaign[edit]

The candidate of the party "SBOR", Asen Angelov, gained some notoriety due to his campaigns use of unconventional campaign strategies: such as internet memes or the use of door-to-door campaigning rather then mass rallies.[63] The campaign similarly gained some attention due to its intense spending on advertisements (potentially up to 130,000 Leva), while still receiving a rather disappointing result.[64]

Opinion polls[edit]

Fieldwork date Polling firm Terziev Hekimyan Nikolov Grigorova Lilkov Valchev Vaptsarov Komitova Kontrera Undecided Lead
21–24 Oct 2023 Alpha Research 29.8% 21.1% 10.2% 20.2% 8.3% 3.4% N/A 1.9% 0.6% 4.5% 8.7%
16–20 Oct 2023 SovaHarris 32.9% 22.9% 13.1% 20.8% 4.0% 3.2% N/A 1.7% 1.8 1.7% 10.0%
10–17 Oct 2023 Mediana 24.8% 21.4% 13.4% 22.2% 7.2% 5.4% N/A 1.8 0.6 3.0 2.6%
29 Sept–9 Oct 2023 ESTAT 27.8% 18.7% 4.7% 20.6% 6.4% 2.4% N/A N/A N/A N/A 7.2%
21- 25 July 2023 Center for Analysis and Marketing 33.4% 22.7% 12% 10.6% 4.8% N/A 0.8% N/A N/A N/A 10.7%

Results[edit]

Candidate Party 1st Round 2nd Round
Votes % Votes %
Vasil Terziev PP-DB 119,121 31.80 175,044 48.20
Vanya Grigorova BSPzB 80,875 21.59 170,258 46.89
Anton Hekimyan GERB-SDS 66,792 17.83
Deyan Nikolov Revival 29,052 7.76
Vili Lilkov Blue Sofia 21,356 5.69
Ivaylo Valchev ITN 11,861 3.17
Radostin Vasilev Independent 9,450 2.52
Violeta Komitova BV 4,333 1.16
Karlos Kontrera VMRO 3,462 0.92
Svetoslav Vitkov GN 2,335 0.62
Asen Angelov SBOR 2,320 0.62
Petar Klisarov DD 1,850 0.49
Teodor Dechev BSDP 1,682 0.45
Krasimir Stoychev Zelenite 1,581 0.42
Mazhd Algafari CfC 776 0.21
Mariya Koleva Pravoto 642 0.17
Alexander Tomov BSDE 638 0.17
Kamen Dyulgerov BG 580 0.15
Yemil Atanasov BSD 563 0.15
Simeon Ananiev MIR 452 0.12
Georgi Nedelchev BUDD 417 0.11
Kalin Krulev ONB 412 0.11

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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  3. ^ "Фандъкова влезе в история като най-дълго управлявалия кмет на София" (in Bulgarian). 10 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Йорданка Фандъкова: 70% от градския транспорт ще е на ток" (in Bulgarian). 26 April 2023.
  5. ^ "52 км, 3 диаметъра и 47 станции: Какво предстои за метрото в София?" (in Bulgarian). 25 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Фандъкова представя одобрените проекти по програма "Зелена София"" (in Bulgarian). 9 August 2011.
  7. ^ "Стартира кандидатстването по Програма "Зелена София" за 2023 г." (in Bulgarian). 9 March 2023.
  8. ^ "13 години Фандъкова в София - нито е хубаво, нито е готово" (in Bulgarian). 23 October 2022.
  9. ^ "Йорданка Фандъкова знаела за забавено строителство в "Младост", но не и за корупция" (in Bulgarian). 4 May 2018.
  10. ^ "ГЕРБ в Бермудския триъгълник на корупцията". Deutsche Welle (in Bulgarian). 6 February 2023.
  11. ^ "Оставка на Фандъкова и съд за строителите на метрото от "Трейс Груп Холд"" (in Bulgarian). 23 January 2021.
  12. ^ "Оставка на Фандъкова и съд за строителите на метрото от "Трейс Груп Холд"" (in Bulgarian). 4 December 2018.
  13. ^ "Йорданка Фандъкова: Няма да подавам оставка" (in Bulgarian). 4 May 2018.
  14. ^ "Какво обещават кандидатите за кмет на София" (in Bulgarian). 4 May 2018.
  15. ^ "София: този път има интрига" (in Bulgarian). 11 October 2019.
  16. ^ "Незапочналата битка за София: Манолова води на Фандъкова с 5%" (in Bulgarian). August 14, 2019.
  17. ^ "Триумф за ГЕРБ: Фандъкова победи Манолова". Deutsche Welle (in Bulgarian). November 3, 2019.
  18. ^ "Щабът на Манолова: Ще искаме касиране на изборите" (in Bulgarian). November 4, 2019.
  19. ^ "ЗАКОН ЗА МЕСТНИТЕ ИЗБОРИ". lex.bg (in Bulgarian). 5 August 1999. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
  20. ^ "ДСБ София: Категорично стоим зад издигната от нас кандидатура на Васил Терзиев за кмет". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). 17 July 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  21. ^ "Васил Терзиев е кандидатът за кмет на София на ПП-ДБ, Бонев води съветниците (Видео)". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). 27 June 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
  22. ^ "Деян Николов е кандидатът на "Възраждане" за кмет на София (Видео)". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). 4 July 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
  23. ^ "Нова дясна коалиция "Синя София" издигна Вили Лилков за кмет, за да се бори срещу левите - БСП и Васил Терзиев (Обзор)". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). 1 August 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  24. ^ "БЗНС в София: Проф. Вили Лилков е нашият кандидат за кмет, не можем да допуснем реставрация на комунистическата власт". Factor.bg (in Bulgarian). 25 July 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
  25. ^ "Софийското БЗНС отрича да подкрепя Вили Лилков в кметската надпревара". News.bg (in Bulgarian). 27 July 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  26. ^ "НДСВ подкрепя Вили Лилков за кмет на София Копирано от standartnews.com". standardnews.com (in Bulgarian). 18 July 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  27. ^ "Проф. Вили Лилков прие да е кандидат за кмет на София". frognews.bg (in Bulgarian). 16 July 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  28. ^ "Вили Лилков влиза в битката за кмет на София)". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). 16 July 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
  29. ^ "БСП в София издигна официално Ваня Григорова(Видео)". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). 2 September 2023. Retrieved 2023-09-02.
  30. ^ "Ваня Григорова официално прие да е кандидат за кмет на София от обединената левица (Видео)". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). 25 August 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  31. ^ "Радостин Василев ще се кандидатира за кмет на София". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). 20 July 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  32. ^ "ТВ ЕВРОКОМ в предаването "Политика и спорт" гост адв. Мария Колева председател на партия "ПРАВОТО" Експертизата за София". pravoto.bg (in Bulgarian). 6 September 2023. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
  33. ^ "Карлос Контрера: В София трябва да има пари и за "неелитните" училища, поне едно ДКЦ в квартал и градска педиатрия". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). 17 September 2023. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
  34. ^ "Карлос Контрера: В София трябва да има пари и за "неелитните" училища, поне едно ДКЦ в квартал и градска педиатрия". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). 17 September 2023. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
  35. ^ ""Партия на Зелените" издигна Красимир Стойчев за кмет на София". BTV.bg (in Bulgarian). 20 September 2023.
  36. ^ "Партия МИР издига един от най-добрите експерти по транспорт за кмет на София". Standartnews.bg (in Bulgarian). 19 September 2023.
  37. ^ "Ивайло Вълчев е кандидатът на ИТН за кмет на София". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). 21 September 2023. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  38. ^ "Антон Хекимян е кандидатът на ГЕРБ-СДС за кмет на София (Видео)". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). 25 September 2023. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  39. ^ "Виолета Комитова е номинацията за кмет на София на "Български възход"". Novini.bg (in Bulgarian). 27 September 2023.
  40. ^ "Светльо Витков влиза в битката за кмет на София". offnews.bg (in Bulgarian). 27 September 2023.
  41. ^ "Асен Ангелов е кандидат на партия "Справедлива България обединени родолюбци" за кмет на София". БТА.bg (in Bulgarian). 28 September 2023.
  42. ^ "Мажд Алгафари е кандидат на коалиция "Граждани за общината" за кмет на София". БТА.bg (in Bulgarian). 28 September 2023.
  43. ^ "Петър Клисаров е кандидат на партия "Пряка демокрация" за кмет на София". БТА.bg (in Bulgarian). 28 September 2023.
  44. ^ "Камен Дюлгеров е кандидат на партия "Български гласъ" за кмет на София". БТА.bg (in Bulgarian). 28 September 2023.
  45. ^ "Емил Атанасов е кандидатът на партия "Български социалдемократи" за кмет на София". БТА.bg (in Bulgarian). 28 September 2023.
  46. ^ "Георги Неделчев e кандидат на партия "Български съюз за директна демокрация" за кмет на София". БТА.bg (in Bulgarian). 28 September 2023.
  47. ^ "Калин Крулев е кандидатът за кмет на София на партия "Общество за нова България"". БТА.bg (in Bulgarian). 28 September 2023.
  48. ^ "Предизборна платформа на Българската социалдемократическа партия (БСДП) за местните избори в Столичната община". Svobodennarod.bg (in Bulgarian). 2 October 2023.
  49. ^ "Xристо Попов обяви в ефира на Евроком, че се кандидатира за кмет на София като независим". eurocom.bg (in Bulgarian). 13 September 2023. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  50. ^ "Иподякон влиза в битката за кмет на София". faktor.bg (in Bulgarian). 1 September 2023. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  51. ^ "Никола Вапцаров е кандидатът за кмет на "Изправи се България"". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). 20 July 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  52. ^ "Фандъкова официално обяви, че няма да се кандидатира за кмет на София". mediapool.bg (in Bulgarian). 6 January 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
  53. ^ "Росен Желязков: Няма да съм кандидат за кмет на София". btv.bg (in Bulgarian). 15 September 2023. Retrieved 2023-09-15.
  54. ^ "Кой е Гeоpги Гeоpгиев, който май ще е кaндидатът на ГЕРБ за Кмет на София". 168chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). 3 July 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
  55. ^ "Георги Георгиев за Хекимян: Не си броим номинациите за кмет като в 5 клас в голямото междучасие (ВИДЕО)". Actualno.bg (in Bulgarian). 3 July 2023. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  56. ^ "Георги Георгиев, Росен Желязков, Николай Габровски: Кой ще бъде кандидатът на ГЕРБ-СДС за кмет на София?". btv.bg (in Bulgarian). 12 September 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
  57. ^ "Интервю Борис Бонев: С Васил Терзиев като кмет и аз като председател на СОС ще сме изключителен тандемя". capital.bg (in Bulgarian). 2 July 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  58. ^ "Лена Бориславова обясни защо не е най-добрият кандидат за кмет на София". capital.bg (in Bulgarian). 13 April 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  59. ^ "Вътрешни БСП номинации за Ваня Григорова и Иван Таков за кандидат-кмет на София". mediapool.bg (in Bulgarian). 2 July 2023. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  60. ^ "Мая Манолова не се цели пак към София". news.bg (in Bulgarian). 2 July 2023. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  61. ^ "Иван Шишков: Ще се кандидатирам за кмет на София, президентът Радев ще ме подкрепи". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). 22 August 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
  62. ^ "Бившият регионален министър Иван Шишков мисли как да се кандидатира за кмет на София". mediapool.bg (in Bulgarian). 22 August 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
  63. ^ "Да разчупиш клишето: Кой е кандидатът за кмет с най-нестандартна кампания?". Blitz.bg (in Bulgarian). 25 October 2023.
  64. ^ "Защо Асен Ангелов хвърли стотици хиляди лева за кампания, а получи само 2335 гласа". Anons.bg (in Bulgarian). 25 October 2023.
Notes
  1. ^ Technically a civic organisation, rather than a political party, however has endorsed Vasil Terziev.
  2. ^ While the BZNS regional branch has declared its support for Vili Lilkov, and has been included in the coalition "Blue Sofia", the national branch of the BZNS has not supported this and has said that an official decision as to the endorsement of the BZNS will come in September.[25]
  3. ^ Officially endorsed by the chairman of Levitsata! (Kostadin Paskalev), but it is not yet certain if all constituent parties shall support her nomination.
  4. ^ ISBG technically endorsed Nikola Vaptsarov for mayor in July and have not withdrawn his candidacy, however, they are a constituent memember of Levitsata!, who signed in support of Grigorova's candidacy
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