Second round of local elections complete

Croatians went to the polls on Sunday in the second round of local elections to elect 12 county prefects, 47 mayors - including the capital Zagreb - and 62 municipal mayors. 

Incumbent Mayor Tomislav Tomašević from Možemo! was re-elected in Zagreb to a second term after beating Independent Candidate Marija Selak Raspudić in Sunday's runoff.

"This new mandate obliges us to continue working in the public interest, not only for those who voted for us, but for those who voted for my opponent and for those who chose not to vote. We are obliged to continue improving the quality of life for all citizens of Zagreb. After our first mandate, which was dedicated to recovery, this new mandate will be dedicated to development in the interest of everyone," said Tomašević.

Selak Raspudić congratulated Tomašević after the results, saying she hoped Tomislav Tomašević would have an open ear for for those on the opposition.

The HDZ's Tomislav Šuta is the new mayor of Croatia's second city, Split. He beat incumbent Ivica Puljak who then announced his retirement from politics.

In Rijeka, newcomer Iva Rinčić dethroned incumbent Mayor Marko Filipović in the second round with a convincing victory. In doing so, Rijeka gets a female mayor for the first time in fifty years.

Former Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds Šime Erlić of the HDZ was elected mayor of Zadar.

"For me, this is a huge honour and a privilege," said Erlić. "By taking over this function as mayor, I am the mayor of everyone in Zadar and we are open to dialogue with everyone."

In perhaps the most unexpected result, the Homeland Movement, the government's leading coalition partner, lost in Vukovar, as Sovereigntist Marijan Pavliček beat Domagoj Bilić.

"The people of Vukovar showed enough political maturity because they punished those who played dirty," said Pavliček.

As for county prefects elected in the second round on Sunday, HDZ candidates won in 9 out of 12 counties, while the SDP won two and Independent Boris Miletić was re-elected to lead Istria County.

HDZ President Andrej Plenković said his party had achieved a massive result.

"We are more than pleased with the results of the local elections. Compared to the record results the party achieved in 2021, further progress has been made. Croatia has a total of 576 local government units; HDZ won in 280 of them - in other words, 48.6%. This is a convincing overall victory for HDZ. In terms of the number of counties, we have remained at the same number at 15. As for cities, we are 5 cities better than before, and we improved by 7 municipalities compared to before," said Plenković.

Meanwhile, SDP President Siniša Hajdaš Dončić said his party had achieved their three main goals: to increase the number of councilors in counties, cities and municipalities; to continue cooperation with Možemo! and to win in Zagreb; and to achieve victory in a larger number of counties.

"All three goals were achieved. "We have a larger number of councilors, we won overwhelmingly in Zagreb and we have a governing role in four counties," said Hajdaš Dončić.

Final results will be posted by the State Electoral Commission.