All eight incumbent regional governors were re-elected in Slovakia’s latest elections to higher territorial units, while most mayors in the country’s eight regional capitals also held on to their positions. But the results were not without change: Košice, Trnava and Trenčín will have new mayors.
In Bratislava, incumbent mayor Matúš Vallo secured a decisive victory, winning just under 65% of the vote. His closest challenger, Jozef Ráž, finished more than 30 percentage points behind him. After his victory was announced, Vallo pledged to lead the city government on behalf of all residents, without distinction.
Košice, by contrast, will have a new mayor. Ladislav Lörinc of Košická strana won nearly 40% of the vote, securing the city’s top municipal post.
In Prešov, incumbent mayor František Oľha, representing Progresívne Slovensko, Demokrati, Demokratická strana and Občianski demokrati Slovenska, retained his position with nearly 41% of the vote.
Marek Hattas also successfully defended his seat in Nitra. The candidate backed by Tím Kraj Nitra – Združenie kandidátov Nitrianskeho kraja, Progresívne Slovensko, SaS, KDH, Hnutie Slovensko, Demokrati and Občianska konzervatívna strana secured more than 50.5% of the vote.
There was no change in Žilina, where independent candidate Peter Fiabáne received 41% of the vote. In Banská Bystrica, independent mayor Ján Nosko likewise retained his position, winning the support of nearly 47% of voters.
Trenčín, however, is preparing for a new chapter. Richard Rybníček, who had served as mayor for 16 years, did not seek another term. His successor will be the current deputy mayor, independent candidate Ján Forgáč, who won 69% of the vote.
Trnava will also have a new mayor. Independent candidate Eva Nemčovská secured nearly 60.5% of the vote, winning a clear mandate to lead the city.
Regional governors hold on to power
While several major cities will see a change in leadership, the regional elections produced a strikingly consistent result: all eight incumbent heads of Slovakia’s self-governing regions retained their posts.
Juraj Droba was re-elected in the Bratislava Region, as was Rastislav Trnka in the Košice Region. Milan Majerský retained leadership of the Prešov Region, Erika Jurinová remained at the helm in Žilina, and Ondrej Lunter held on to his position in the Banská Bystrica Region.
In the west and north-west of the country, Branislav Becík successfully defended his post in the Nitra Region, as did Jozef Viskupič in the Trnava Region and Jaroslav Baška in the Trenčín Region.
Yet the overall picture of continuity concealed some closely fought contests. The most closely watched races unfolded in eastern Slovakia, where the results exposed both the strength of the incumbents and the challenges facing their opponents.
Prešov: A defeat for the far right
The Prešov Region attracted the greatest public attention during the count. In the early stages, MP Milan Mazurek, who ran for the far-right Republika movement, appeared to be leading the race.
But as the count progressed, the incumbent regional governor, Milan Majerský, overtook him. Majerský, who chairs the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), ultimately secured nearly 49% of the vote, winning another term and becoming the region’s leader for a third consecutive term.
For Majerský, the result was not simply a personal victory. He presented his candidacy as an effort to prevent the far right from gaining power in the region.
“If anyone were to attempt to downplay or sugarcoat this fact—Mazurek lost by nearly 40,000 votes; it was a crushing defeat. If anyone asks why I ran as a candidate, given that I am the party chairman — well, that is precisely why: to create a clear bulwark against extremism. Let us be glad that we put a stop to it and that the situation did not unfold as it has in Germany,” concluded Majerský.
Mazurek, meanwhile, described his own performance as a significant achievement. He received more than 100,000 votes, a result he said demonstrated the growth in his electoral support. “This is more than three and a half times what I achieved in the previous regional elections four years ago, and it is even more than what I secured in the national parliamentary or European parliamentary elections across the entire territory of the Slovak Republic. It is regrettable that this region will continue to be led by the KDH—a party that claims to be ‘progressive’—yet, despite the entire corrupt media-political establishment uniting against me, they were anxious about the outcome right up until the very last moment,” he said.
The result therefore offered sharply contrasting interpretations. Majerský cast the outcome as a decisive rejection of extremism, while Mazurek focused on the scale of his own vote and his party’s electoral progress.
Košice Region: A narrow victory under scrutiny
The contest in the Košice Region was considerably tighter. Incumbent governor Rastislav Trnka retained his position with 32% of the vote, finishing only around 1.3 percentage points ahead of his challenger, Marián Porvažník, who secured nearly 31%.
The narrow margin made for a tense election night. Trnka described both the campaign and the final hours of counting as a drama. “There were indeed many reasons for doubt, and I will do everything in my power to dispel these doubts while also meeting the expectations placed in me,” Trnka added.
Trnka’s re-election comes despite scandals reported in the media and criminal proceedings associated with his tenure. Some commentators have interpreted his victory as a sign of voters’ tolerance of corruption. His supporters’ reasons for backing him, however, cannot be inferred from the result alone.
The outcome has also prompted criticism of the opposition. Some observers argue that opposition parties have neglected grassroots campaigning in rural areas, while others point to voter passivity as a factor that may have influenced the narrow result.
Porvažník, who failed to unseat the incumbent, said after the election that he was prepared to become the leader of the opposition in the regional assembly. He pledged to scrutinise the regional leadership closely, particularly its management of public resources.
His commitment signals that, although the governing team has survived another election, its handling of the region’s affairs is likely to remain under scrutiny.
Continuity at regional level, change in the cities
Taken together, the results point to continuity in Slovakia’s regional leadership. Every incumbent governor was returned to office, while most mayors in the regional capitals also retained their positions.
The changes in Košice, Trnava and Trenčín nevertheless show that voters were willing to opt for new leadership in some of the country’s largest cities. And while the Prešov and Košice regional races ended in victories for the incumbents, both contests highlighted the political pressures facing them.
In Prešov, Majerský prevailed over a far-right challenger who nevertheless secured more than 100,000 votes. In Košice, Trnka survived a closely fought contest despite the controversies surrounding his tenure.
The elections thus delivered a largely familiar political landscape, but not an entirely settled one. In the east in particular, the results left questions about the strength of the opposition, the appeal of the far right and the standards by which regional leaders are held accountable.
Source: TASR, STVR, SME
