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Polskie Radio English Section Elections 2025

Pro-European candidate wins Polish Senate by-election in Kraków

17.03.2025 11:20
Monika Piątkowska secured a decisive victory in the Kraków Senate by-election, defeating right-wing and far-right opponents in a low-turnout vote.
Civic Coalition (KO) politicians Marek Sowa (right) and Katarzyna Matusik-Lipiec (left) attend a campaign event with Warsaw Mayor and presidential candidate Rafał Trzaskowski on March 14, 2025. In the center, In the center, Monika Piątkowska, KOs candidate who won the Kraków Senate by-election two days later, joins the discussion..
Civic Coalition (KO) politicians Marek Sowa (right) and Katarzyna Matusik-Lipiec (left) attend a campaign event with Warsaw Mayor and presidential candidate Rafał Trzaskowski on March 14, 2025. In the center, In the center, Monika Piątkowska, KO’s candidate who won the Kraków Senate by-election two days later, joins the discussion..Photo: PAP/Łukasz Gągulski

Monika Piątkowska won the Senate by-election in Kraków’s District 33 with 50.14% of the vote. Backed by the centrist Civic Coalition (KO), the agrarian PSL, and the left-wing Lewica, she will take over the seat previously held by Bogdan Klich, who stepped down to become Poland’s chargé d’affaires in Washington, D.C.

Piątkowska received 25,022 votes, while her main rival, Mateusz Małodziński of the right-wing PiS, secured 31.41% (15,675 votes). Adam Roman Berkowicz, representing the far-right Confederation, came in third with 10.47% (5,223 votes). Voter turnout was 16.52%.

PM Tusk: A victory, but also a warning

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk congratulated Piątkowska but urged caution, emphasizing that the result should not be taken for granted ahead of future elections.

“Bravo, Kraków! Bravo, Monika Piątkowska! Winning more than half the votes - clearly more than PiS and Confederation combined - is significant. But this is Kraków, not the whole country,” the head of the Polish government wrote on X.

“So while we celebrate, we must also see this as a warning. A major challenge lies ahead,” he added.

(m p)

Source: IAR/PAP/X/@donaldtusk