Bulgaria’s 2026 presidential elections: Yotova 44.5%, Gyurov 26.1% – Alpha Research poll
The presidential election ticket of incumbent head of state Iliana Yotova and vice-presidential candidate Kiril Vulchev has 44.5 per cent support among those who intend to vote, with former caretaker prime minister Andrei Gyurov and his running mate Georgi Kandev in second place with 26.1 per cent, according to the results of Alpha Research poll, released on October 5.
Bulgaria is holding regular presidential elections on October 25 2026. If no candidate wins more than 50 per cent of the vote on that day, a second round will be held on November 1 between the two tickets with the largest shares of votes.
The Yotova – Gyurov ticket is supported by Prime Minister Roumen Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Socialist Party and left-wing pro-Russian party ABV.
The Gyurov – Kandev ticket is supported by We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria, as well as some extra-parliamentary reformist parties.
There are 27 presidential candidates in the 2026 elections. Only one of the remaining 25 has support in double figures.
Vuzrazhdane’s Kostadin Kostadinov and Petar Volgin are in a distant third place with 10.5 per cent, according to Alpha Research.
Alpha Research’s Boryana Dimitova, commenting to bTV on the figure for the Gyurov – Kandev ticket, said: “This is a good position, considering and historically comparing the candidates in this spectrum. This support speaks of serious potential”.
Of the support for the Kostadinov – Volgin ticket, Dimitrova said: “This is almost the only one of the key players who stood with a party candidacy. Here the goal is to establish the party after the parliamentary elections”. In Bulgaria’s April 2026 early parliamentary elections, Vuzrazhdane, a pro-Russian party, massively lost voters to Radev’s party.
Dimitrova said that the Koststadinov – Volgin ticket was “pulling from the disappointed and part of the supporters of Progressive Bulgaria, who are withdrawing.”
According to the Alpha Research poll, almost half of the supporters of GERB-UDF and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms say that they will not vote. The two parties have not nominated presidential candidates.
Among GERB-UDF supporters who will vote, 20-25 per cent choose Gyurov – Kandev, half as many choose Yotova, and half as many choose Kostadinov. Among MRF supporters, most back Yotova – Vulchev.
“If the leadership of these parties, which have strong discipline and structures, call for it, this could have an impact. If we have a more clearly stated advice, directive, message to vote, this could lead to surprises,” Dimitrova said.
About 62.6 per cent of those polled believe that the leading candidates should go to a debate before the first round of the election.
If the elections were held today, turnout would be around 37–38 per cent of voters on the Central Electoral Commission lists. The pollsters do not expect significant mobilisation in the remaining weeks, although the campaign could still change attitudes.
“It is possible that it will change during the campaign, but we do not expect such a large mobilisation,” Dimitrova said.
Disappointment with politicians stands out among the main reasons for not voting. About 40 per cent of those who said they would not vote cited this as the reason, and about 24 per cent said there was no candidate to represent them.
The profile of non-voters is diverse. This group includes both traditionally non-voters and people who participated in the vote in April, but are now withdrawing from the electoral process again.
The Alpha Research poll was done between September 24 and October 1. It was conducted with its own funds among 1000 adult citizens through a direct standardised interviews with tablets at the homes of the respondents.
