Key facts
- Independent Łukasz Gibała won Kraków's mayoral runoff on Sunday.
- Gibała defeated Senator Monika Piątkowska, who was backed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Civic Coalition.
- Exit polls showed Gibała with 61% of the vote to Piątkowska's 39%.
- Turnout for the runoff election was 44.7%.
- Gibała previously lost to Civic Coalition-backed Aleksander Miszalski in 2024.
- Miszalski was removed as mayor in a May referendum.
Independent candidate Łukasz Gibała won Kraków's mayoral runoff election on Sunday, defeating Senator Monika Piątkowska, who was backed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk's ruling Civic Coalition. Exit polls indicated Gibała secured 61% of the vote compared to Piątkowska's 39%, marking a setback for Tusk's party in Poland's second-largest city.
Gibała, a local councilor and former national lawmaker, campaigned on a platform of breaking with the political establishment and addressing public discontent over Kraków's debt and proposed low-emissions zone. This was Gibała's fourth attempt at the mayoralty. He narrowly lost to Aleksander Miszalski, the Civic Coalition-backed incumbent, in 2024.
Miszalski himself was removed from office in a May referendum. Gibała acknowledged the need to cooperate with the Civic Coalition and its ally, the Left party, which together hold a majority of seats on the city council.
Nationally, the Civic Coalition leads in opinion polls but current projections suggest they may fall short of a parliamentary majority in the upcoming elections. Surveys indicate that the coalition and its government allies would struggle to secure enough seats to govern without broader support.