If Szentkirályi withdrew from the race, then Karácsony could count on 47 per cent, while Vitézy would have 36 per cent of the vote, according to left-leaning pollster Publicus.

Gergely Karácsony confidently leads the race for the mayor of Budapest, according to a survey by the Publicus Institute: 46 per cent of all respondents would vote for him in the municipal elections on 9 June. He is followed by Dávid Vitézy, the candidate of LMP and civil groups, with 23 per cent support. Alexandra Szentkirályi , the candidate of the ruling parties, could count on the votes of 19 per cent of respondents, while András Grundtner, running for the Mi Hazánk Movement, could rely on a 3 per cent support.

Szentkirályi’s lag is even more pronounced considering that 27 per cent and 29 per cent of the undecided voters could still go to Karácsony and Vitézy, respectively, while only 4 per cent of the hesitating voters would vote for the Fidesz candidate, as revealed by the survey conducted between 6 and 10 May through telephone and online hybrid interviews with a 1055 adults representing the voting age population of Budapest.

Even more noteworthy than Szentkirályi’s disadvantage is the fact that according to the survey,

Gergely Karácsony’s victory would not be endangered even if, what many consider a plausible scenario, one of his two major rivals were to withdraw.

According to the research, if the Fidesz candidate were to withdraw from the race, then Karácsony would have a 47 per cent support, while Vitézy would have 36 per cent. Interestingly, if Szentkirályi were to withdraw, a significant portion of Fidesz voters, 63 per cent, would be willing to support Vitézy. This situation would strongly divide the supporters of the newly-founded Tisza Party, with 53 per cent voting for Karácsony and 40 per cent for Vitézy.

If Vitézy were to withdraw, Karácsony’s victory would look even smoother according to the survey. In this scenario, Publicus measured a 53 per cent support for the current mayor, while Szentkirályi would only ‘strengthen’ to 25 per cent with Vitézy’s withdrawal.