Rafał Trzaskowski and Karol Nawrocki will face each other in the second round of Poland’s presidential election after securing the top two spots in Sunday’s first round, according to an exit poll by Ipsos.
Neither candidate achieved the absolute majority required to win outright, prompting a runoff vote scheduled for June 1.
Trzaskowski, the Civic Platform candidate and current mayor of Warsaw, finished first with 31.2 percent of the vote. Nawrocki, backed by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, trailed closely with 29.7 percent.
The rest of the field trailed far behind. Right-wing Confederation candidate Sławomir Mentzen received 14.5 percent, followed by fellow nationalist Grzegorz Braun with 6.3 percent.
Left-wing candidate Adrian Zandberg took 4.8 percent of the vote, while Szymon Hołownia, a centrist and current Speaker of the Polish parliament, secured 4.9 percent. Other candidates, including Magdalena Biejat, Krzysztof Stanowski, Joanna Senyszyn, Marek Jakubiak, Artur Bartoszewicz, Maciej Maciak, and Marek Woch, each achieved nominal support.
Speaking on election night, Nawrocki framed the runoff as a national struggle against the influence of Donald Tusk and the Civic Platform. “We must stop Donald Tusk’s march to autocracy,” he declared. Calling for a “great march for Poland” in Warsaw on May 25, he invited “all those for whom Poland is important, regardless of your political views.”
Emphasizing his platform of change, Nawrocki added, “Only the candidate of change is needed by the Republic of Poland. A candidate to change what is happening in Poland today… Poland first, Poles first. Long live Poland! To victory!”
Trzaskowski also addressed supporters on Sunday evening, stressing the importance of determination heading into the final vote. “This result shows how strong we must be, how determined we must be to win the presidential election,” he said.
“I told you eight months ago that it was going to be very, very close. And it’s very close. I am very happy that I won the first round, but there is a lot of work ahead of us.”
“We are going for victory,” Trzaskowski continued. “Full determination is needed. Your votes are needed. We need to convince everyone.”
The second-round vote will decide who replaces incumbent President Andrzej Duda, whose term is coming to an end.
