Exit polls show Iotova winning Bulgaria's presidential runoff, set to be first elected woman

Bulgaria's President Iliana Iotova won the presidential runoff on Sunday, November 1, 2026, according to three exit polls, putting her on course to become the country's first elected woman president. The polls gave Iotova between 50.7% and 52.5% of the vote, against between 43.4% and 44% for Andrey Gyurov, a banker and former caretaker prime minister backed by the pro-Western opposition. Iotova, 61, favors dialogue with Moscow and opposes military aid to Ukraine. She is an ally of Prime Minister Rumen Radev and took over the largely ceremonial post in January, when Radev resigned to run in, and win, a parliamentary election. Exit polls put turnout at about 27 to 29 percent, slightly above the record-low 23 percent in the first round a week earlier. Official results are expected Monday. The vote took place after drone attacks on commercial vessels off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast in October that left 21 people missing, in suspected spillover from the Russia-Ukraine war.

Right-leaning outlets Newsmax and the Washington Times lead with the historic milestone of a first elected female head of state, in headlines that spell the name Yotova. Newsmax adds that the result strengthens Prime Minister Radev's political position, while the Washington Times stresses that the result is based on exit polls and that partial official results were expected later Sunday. Neither excerpt mentions turnout, voter comments, or the drone attacks. Alternative outlets The Hindu and Al Jazeera report the same result and the same vote shares, but add context the right-leaning excerpts omit: Iotova's stance on Russia and Ukraine, the Black Sea attacks, turnout figures, and, in Al Jazeera, comments from voters who said they disliked both candidates. Left-leaning outlets had not reported this story at the time of writing, while right-leaning and alternative outlets had. Those covering it focus on the exit-poll result and Iotova's place in history.