EXCLUSIVE. AtlasIntel SURVEY for the Capital City Hall: Big surprise for the candidate preferred by voters over 60 years old

The candidate of a party that was known until now to have voters predominantly from the younger generations is the first in the preferences of voters aged between 60 and 69 in the race for the Capital City Hall and in second place in the over 70 segment, according to the survey conducted by AtlasIntel for HotNews. This is Cătălin Drula from USR.

• The opinion poll was conducted by AtlasIntel for HotNews between November 12-14, 2025, on a sample of 2,429 people from Bucharest.
• The AtlasIntel poll was conducted using the random digital recruitment method and has a margin of error of ±2 pp at a 95% confidence level.

The survey conducted by AtlasIntel, the results of which were published by HotNews on Monday, suggests an extremely close race, with a difference in the margin of error between the top four candidates, and the one who opens the ranking is the PNL mayor from Sector 6, Ciprian Ciucu. On 2nd is Daniel Băluță, on 3rd comes Cătălin Drula and on 4th Anca Alexandrescu.

The demographic segmentation of the voting intention for the partial local elections that will take place in Bucharest in less than three weeks also brought surprising data. There are big differences in preferences for one candidate or another depending not only on age, but also on income, education or gender.

A quarter of those over 60 prefer Cătălin Drula

Ana Ciceală from SENS is the clear leader in the preferences of the youngest voters (18-29 years old), with 24.9%, followed by Cătălin Drula (USR), with 20.9% and Daniel Băluță (PSD) – 18%. Ciprian Ciucu, in first place in the general survey, has a lower score in this age segment, only 6 percent.

But Ciucu is detached among Bucharest voters aged 30-39, with 32.3%, which is more than the following two combined: Drula, 15.1% and Băluță, 15%. Cicela has 13% here.

In the 40-49 age group, the best placed now is Băluță (24.6%), Anca Alexandrescu (independent supported by AUR) has 23.1%, and Ciucu, 20.1%. Drula's share drops to 12%, and Ciceăla's to 6.5%.

Anca Alexandrescu is the first at 50-59 years old

In the 50-59-year-old segment, Anca Alexandrescu is the clear leader 28.4%, followed by Băluță -18%, Ciucu -17.3% and Drula 14.3%.

Voters aged 60-69 who participated in the survey prefer, in this order, Drula – 25.5%, Ciucu – 24.3%, Alexandrescu – 17% and Băluță -14.1%.

Among those over 70, Alexandrescu is again in front, with 26.2%. On the next places, according to AtlasIntel, are Drula – 24%, Băluță – 21.9% and Ciucu – 10.4%.

Big difference in the AUR candidate in terms of gender voting

If the intention to vote by gender is taken into account, in the case of candidate Anca Alexandrescu there is a major difference between the percentage of men who say they would vote for her (23.8%) and that of women who prefer her: 13.2%.

The PNL candidate Ciprian Ciucu is preferred by 18% of men and 20.2% of women, and in Băluță 14.7% of voters are men and 21.%% are women.

Among the four main favorites in the elections for the Capital City Hall on December 7, the most balanced situation in this regard is in Drula: he is preferred by 17.8% of men and 18.3% of women.

College graduates prefer Ciucu and Băluță

From the point of view of the level of education, 41.8% of voters with primary level (only general school) say they are voting for Anca Alexandrescu, 25.1% for Drula and 15.1% for Virgil Alexandru Makaveli. It should be noted that the 4th place in this category – with a percentage of 10.5% – goes to those who say they will cancel their vote.

Among those with an average level of education (high school graduates), most say they will vote for Drula – 21.5%, followed by Alexandrescu – 19%, Băluță – 18.5% and Ciucu -12%.

Regarding the voters who graduated at least from college, 30.7% of them prefer Ciucu and 23.9% of them Băluță. Drula is rated with only 13% here, followed by Ciceăla, who is preferred by 9.4% of voters with higher education and Anca Alexandrescu, with a percentage of 9.3%.

Variant of the null vote, more attractive for those with low incomes than Ciucu, Drula or Băluță

When segmenting voters by income category, 39.4% of those who earn less than 3,000 lei per month prefer Anca Alexandrescu, 14.9% Makaveli, and 12.8% chose the null or blank vote option.

These three variants above total more than two-thirds of the responses (67.1%), while the PNL, USR and PSD candidates do not even reach a 10% share among Bucharest residents with the lowest incomes.

At the opposite pole, of those who earn over 10,000 lei per month, the clear leader is the liberal Ciucu, preferred by 31.1% of them. He is followed by Băluță – 22.4%, Drula -14.2% and Ana Ciceăla – 7.9%. Only 6.3% of voters with the highest monthly incomes in the Capital say they would vote for Anca Alexandrescu.