Hungary Opposition Leads Against Orban-Backed Mayor in Budapest

(Bloomberg) -- Hungary’s opposition took an early lead in the election for mayor in Budapest and made inroads in several other cities against candidates backed by Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party, partial results showed Sunday.

Opposition candidate Gergely Karacsony obtained 49.5% of the votes in the capital against 45.4% for incumbent Mayor Istvan Tarlos, according to an early count on the election office website. Fidesz looked poised to keep its hegemony of local assemblies in Hungary’s 19 counties as well as a majority of cities.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andras Gergely in Budapest at agergely@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Scott Rose at rrose10@bloomberg.net, Zoltan Simon

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