What Slovakia is writing about: All eight governors retained their seats, Mazurek lost despite a hundred thousand votes. Smer holds no mayor's office in any regional capital

All eight regional governors defended their seats in Saturday's regional elections, and nothing changed at the top of the regions. Prime Minister Robert Fico concluded from this that Slovakia's political map hasn't changed either, but newsrooms read a different story beneath it: Smer has no mayor in a single regional capital, Milan Mazurek of Republika lost in the Prešov region despite more than a hundred thousand votes, and more than half of the municipalities will for the first time be led by independents. Pravda ↗ Parliament Speaker Richard Raši said on Sunday on STVR that parliamentary elections should be held on the regular date of September 25, 2027. STVR ↗

Fico: the map hasn't changed. Newsrooms: he chose Bratislava himself

Turnout in the regional elections reached 46.56 percent and in the municipal elections 48.48 percent. TASR ↗ On Sunday the prime minister sent only a written statement: "No serious political conclusions can be drawn from yesterday's elections regarding the 2027 parliamentary elections." As proof, he cites the fact that voters did not replace a single regional governor. Aktuality.sk ↗

SME and Aktuality.sk remind him of his own criterion. Before the elections, Fico said on Radio Slovensko's Saturday Dialogues: "If Jožo Ráž won in Bratislava, I wouldn't even need to hold a press conference to evaluate the municipal elections." Transport Minister and Smer nominee Jozef Ráž, who cast himself in the campaign as an independent candidate, received 61,183 votes, while Matúš Vallo received 121,846, or 64.36 percent. Aktuality.sk ↗ SME summed it up with the headline "Fico named the key contest — and lost it. But almost no one scored a point." SME ↗ Denník N noted that the result wasn't even worth a press conference to the prime minister. Denník N ↗

Postoj recalls that the same governors were brought in by the 2017 anti-Smer wave and have held on ever since. According to Postoj, the only one left from Smer's former dominance over the regions is Jaroslav Baška in Trenčín. Postoj ↗

Mazurek lost, but a hundred thousand votes can't be ignored

KDH chairman Milan Majerský won more than 48 percent in the Prešov region, while Mazurek won more than 35 percent. Four years ago, he had barely 11 percent. Postoj ↗ After his victory, Majerský declared that extremism had been defeated. TASR ↗

Martin Behul at Aktuality.sk reads it differently: in Prešov, according to him, both Milans won, and the only loser was Smer, which "gave up" on the region. Its candidate Judita Laššáková withdrew her candidacy at the beginning of October, and according to Behul, Fico indirectly supported Mazurek. Aktuality.sk ↗ Postoj backed this up with data from municipalities: the better Smer did there in 2023, the more votes Mazurek now received, and he also won in municipalities where Michal Kaliňák of Hlas scored well four years ago. Postoj ↗

Sociologist Martin Slosiarik from the Focus agency told Aktuality.sk that the barrier preventing Smer voters from voting for Republika is "gradually falling." Aktuality.sk ↗ Samo Marec in SME, on the other hand, warns against the shortcut that a hundred thousand Mazurek voters means a hundred thousand fascists: according to him, Mazurek has "changed in almost everything," though the essence remains, and people vote for many different reasons. SME ↗

Smer in the cities: zero regional mayors and Gašpar's flop

Smer came out of the fight for regional capitals without a single mayor. Besides Bratislava, its candidate also lost in Nitra, where Marek Hattas won with opposition support, and in Prešov, where František Oľha remains in office. Aktuality.sk ↗ Denník N added that Smer and Hlas are also losing long-held strongholds in smaller towns. Denník N ↗ In Bardejov, after nearly 28 years, mayor Boris Hanuščak, who was supported by Hlas, Smer and SNS, is stepping down, and will be succeeded by independent Miloslav Olejár. Hospodárske noviny ↗

Deputy parliament speaker Tibor Gašpar became a symbol. He failed to get elected to the Nitra regional council, with 5,902 votes, while in his constituency Jana Ďurková, sister of sidelined investigator Pavol Ďurka, succeeded with 12,734 votes. Aktuality.sk ↗

The coalition, however, still has something to show. Hlas chairman Matúš Šutaj Eštok declared Hlas the most successful party of the elections, crediting it with 568 mayors and village heads when counting coalitions and supported candidates as well. TASR ↗ According to official results, Hlas has 260 mayors and village heads on its own, and Smer has 201. TASR ↗

PS: narrow losses at the top, majorities on councils

The strongest opposition party had made the Košice region a priority. Its candidate Marián Porvažník, supported by the entire opposition, lost to Rastislav Trnka by roughly three thousand votes (73,304 to 76,421). In Banská Bystrica, Diana Javorčíková lost to mayor Ján Nosko 43 to 47 percent. Aktuality.sk ↗

PS deputy chairman Ivan Štefunko admitted that the party did not meet its own expectations, having only two mayors on its own. SME ↗ Korzár shows the other side: the Košice regional council will have 23 members of the opposition coalition around Porvažník, and in the city of Košice, the PS coalition has the strongest caucus. Porvažník estimated the cost of his campaign at 400,000 euros. Korzár ↗ SME's chief commentator Beata Balogová said on the Aréna program that the result gives the impression PS "sat out" these elections. SME ↗

Independents: the only ones who actually grew

Independent candidates will lead 1,560 villages and towns, i.e. 53.57 percent of self-governments. TASR ↗ Postoj notes that back in 2014 the figure was 38 percent. Postoj ↗ Trend compared the results with 2022: coalition parties lost 78 mayoral seats, opposition parties 25. The population of municipalities led by coalition nominees fell, according to Trend, from roughly 967,000 to 732,000. "The weakening of one parliamentary camp does not automatically strengthen the other," Trend writes. Trend ↗

Under the radar

Police recorded 317 complaints during the elections. SITA ↗ In Veľké Kapušany, mayor Peter Petrikán won by a single vote, and his rival Attila Balogh is demanding a recount. He claims voters in one precinct were given 20 euros per vote, and police are investigating the suspicion of electoral corruption. Korzár ↗ A criminal complaint over voter transport was also filed by Svidník mayor Marcela Ivančová of Hlas, who did not retain her seat. TASR ↗

Investment minister Samuel Migaľ lost the race for the Prešov region, but was elected to the regional council and is consulting lawyers on whether to accept the mandate. TA3 ↗ Besides the date of the parliamentary elections, Raši also opened a debate in the same program about changing the electoral system, under which regions could have their own representatives directly in parliament. SITA ↗

What hotinfo is watching

Illustrative photo: the building of the Prešov Self-Governing Region Office (V0lkanic, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0).