Cătălin Drula, reaction to the AtlasIntel survey, in which Anca Alexandrescu is in first place: “It is an exaggerated danger from the PNL”
Catalin Drula, USR president, Photo: Inquam Photos / Octav Ganea
The USR candidate for the Capital City Hall, Cătălin Drula, said on Europa FM, referring to the AtlasIntel survey, published by HotNews, that its results are exaggerated by the PNL. According to Drula, USR's internal polls show that he, Ciprian Ciucu and Daniel Băluță have very close scores, while Anca Alexandrescu is in 4th place, not in first place.
Cătălin Drula said that he does not believe in the “danger” that the future first general will be chosen between Daniel Băluță (PSD) and Anca Alexandrescu (independent, supported by AUR).
“The pools are very, very close”
“There's only one poll from yesterday, I don't want to comment on it (…) I don't believe in this danger and on the other hand, I think it's a bit exaggerated, in a tactical sense, by those from the PNL who want to find an argument, just like for Mr. Ciucă, who, you know, still had a little bit left and had to be in the 2nd round, definitely. By the way, Mr. Ciucu was the head of the campaign, while Mr. Ciucu, as the head of the digital campaign, put money in the network that pushed Călin Georgescu on TikTok. It's a kind of re-editing a year later, which is sad, because it shows that these politicians didn't understand anything,” said Drula, quoted by News.ro.
EXCLUSIVE. AtlasIntel survey for HotNews: Anca Alexandrescu is growing strongly and is practically tied for first place. A right-wing candidate is also running. An increasingly close battle in the race for Bucharest. Some important clarifications related to the survey
Asked why they don't publish the internal polls that the USR has, Drula answered: “We have a principle not to show off these things. We also have our research that really shows us that the pools are very, very close, the three main candidates, below Mrs. Alexandrescu.”
The former Minister of Transport claims that the “windy” polls during the election period cannot all be true at the same time, so there will be “pleasant surprises” on Sunday.
Drula also said that it is important for the future mayor of the Capital to have the Romanian president as an ally.
“This natural alliance between USR and Nicusor Dan is one that goes beyond the elections and it seems to me that it has a very important stake from December 8 onwards, because a mayor of Bucharest needs an ally in the Romanian president. It is a matter of values, principles, a long-term partnership, in which we did not abandon, we were there, next to Nicusor Dan, in all these rounds of elections”, said Cătălin Drula.
AtlasIntel survey results
Daniel Băluță, the PSD candidate in the elections of December 7, 2025, and the independent candidate supported by the AUR, Anca Alexandrescu, lead in the voting intentions of Bucharest residents (separated by 0.1%), followed very closely, at 1.5%, by Ciprian Ciucu, according to the data of an opinion poll conducted by the AtlasIntel institute for HotNews. In an AtlasIntel survey from two weeks ago, Ciucu opened the ranking, Băluță was in 2nd place, and Alexandrescu was in 3rd place.
What Băluță says after the AtlasIntel survey, about the option for Drula to retire: “At school we learn a very simple thing”
According to the AtlasIntel survey, the PSD mayor of Sector 4, Daniel Băluță, is credited with 23.3% and is followed by Anca Alexandrescu, with 23.2%. 1.5% behind them is PNL mayor Ciprian Ciucu, credited with 21.7%.
On the 4th place is the USR candidate, Cătălin Drula, with 15.5%, followed by the SENS candidate, Ana Ciceăla, with 8.4%.
