Zdenek Papousek, nominated by the Civic Democrats (ODS), has been elected senator for the Brno-City senate district, winning 59.4% of vote in the first round of the by-election, according to data from the election website www.volby.cz.
The runner-up Karin Podivinska (ANO) received roughly 21.92% of the vote, followed by Petr Kos (SPD) on 5.81%.
Six candidates stood in the by-election. Papousek will take office until October 2026, filling the seat of Roman Kraus (ODS), who died unexpectedly on 30 October.
Papousek was nominated by ODS, with the support of Spolu, STAN, the Pirates, the Greens, and Fakt Brno. He told CTK he had not expected the result, and would have considered it a success to advance to the second round.
Turnout in the election was 20.62%, which is relatively high for a Senate by-election; turnout for the first round of a Senate by-election has only passed 20% five times. The highest turnout in such an election was in August 1999, when almost 34% of voters in Prague 1 turned out and elected Vaclav Fischer as a senator in the first round.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) congratulated Papousek: “Winning the first round of the election is a great success and Zdenek will be a great asset to the Senate,” he wrote on social media.
Papousek, formerly a senator for the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL), said he planned to join the ODS and TOP 09 senate group, of which his predecessor Kraus had been a member.
The outcome of the by-election in Brno will not significantly affect the balance of power in the Senate. Representatives of the three coalition factions comprise three-quarters of the Senate, which has a full complement of 81 members. After the death of Roman Kraus, the ODS and TOP 09 group had 29 senators, the Mayors’ group had 18 members, and the KDU-CSL group had 12. After Zdenek Papousek’s victory, the coalition will again have 60 senators, as they did after last September’s elections in one third of the Senate districts.
Kraus won in the Brno-City constituency in 2020, receiving 57.71% of the vote in the second round.
