2014 Romanian presidential election
County Ponta ( PSD ) Iohannis ( ACL )
Alba 30.4% 69.59%
Arad 34.12% 65.88%
Argeș 59.27% 40.73%
Bacău 53.55% 46.45%
Bihor 36.51% 63.48%
Bistrița-Năsăud 37.73% 62.26%
Botoșani 62.72% 37.27%
Brașov 36.9% 63.09%
Brăila 57.94% 42.05%
Bucharest 42.67% 57.33%
Buzău 60.9% 39.1%
Caraș-Severin 48.06% 51.93%
Călărași 55.18% 44.81%
Cluj 26.18% 73.82%
Constanța 42.93% 57.07%
Covasna 22.05% 77.95%
Dâmbovița 58.08% 41.92%
Dolj 60.6% 39.39%
Galați 54.02% 45.98%
Giurgiu 68.38% 31.62%
Results -- By county
Results of the second round by county Victor Ponta Klaus Iohannis Results of the second round by locality Klaus Iohannis Victor Ponta
Presidential elections were held in Romania in 2014. In the first round on 2 November, the top two of the fourteen candidates qualified in a run-off on 16 November. Victor Ponta, Prime Minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party won around 40% of the vote, and Klaus Iohannis, mayor of Sibiu and leader of Christian Liberal Alliance, won around 30%. Following large protests on how Ponta's government organized the elections in the diaspora, Klaus Iohannis staged a surprising come-back and won the run-off with 54.5%, or more than a million votes than his contender. Ponta, serving as Prime Minister of Romania since May 2012, ran his campaign on promoting a national reconciliation message of a great union between all Romanians, defending his governance as balanced, with both left-wing and progressive measures, and promising to end the era established by the then incumbent president, Traian Băsescu. However, his government faced some indirect international criticism, with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland criticizing in October 2014 what she called the cancer of democratic regression and corruption in several Central and Southeast Europe nations and with politicians who protect the corrupt office holders from prosecution and bypass parliament as often as it suits them. Iohannis, a Transylvanian Saxon, focused his campaign on judicial independence and fiscal relaxation, and promised to promote Romania of thoroughness and a Romania of things well done, while blaming the country's economic and political problems on the regional governance of the Social Democratic Party, the so-called barons. The electoral campaign ran between 3 October and 1 November and was overshadowed by several corruption scandals (Microsoftgate, EADS, illegal retrocessions) involving key figures of PSD, but also the candidate Elena Udrea. Outgoing President Traian Băsescu accused Victor Ponta of being an undercover spy, incompatible under the Romanian legislation with a public position, while Klaus Iohannis faced accusations of incompatibility filed by the National Integrity Agency after September 2013. Following very long voting times and large numbers of people who couldn't vote before the closing of polls in diaspora, large protests were staged in multiple cities across Romania and at Romanian embassies before the second round. This was regarded as both incapacity and unwillingness of Ponta's government to organize fair elections, and led to a surprisingly large turnout of over 64% (largest since 1996), and a surprise win for Iohannis in the second round.