Poll set to shift the balance in the presidential race: Support for Erdoğan has fallen below the critical level

As the 2026 presidential elections approach, striking results have emerged in a newly conducted public opinion survey.

In the survey conducted with 2,000 people across 26 provinces, only 37.9 percent of participants stated that they wanted to see Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a presidential candidate.

This rate remained well behind the 52.18 percent vote share Erdoğan received in the 2023 election.

ALTERNATIVE NAMES STAND OUT

In the poll, Mansur Yavaş took second place with 22.6 percent. Ekrem İmamoğlu secured third place with 16.2 percent.

The fact that Özgür Özel reached 5.3 percent and Selahattin Demirtaş reached 5 percent drew attention to the activity within the opposition.

Among other candidates, Müsavat Dervişoğlu remained at 2 percent, Ümit Özdağ at 1.4 percent, Fatih Erbakan at 1.3 percent, and Yavuz Ağıralioğlu at 1.1 percent.

While the rate of those who preferred the "Other" option was 3 percent, the rate of those who were undecided or had no opinion was measured at 4.2 percent.

POLL RESULTS TABLE

In the study, the responses to the question 'Who would you like to see as a presidential candidate in the upcoming elections?' were listed as follows:

- Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: 37.9% - Mansur Yavaş: 22.6% - Ekrem İmamoğlu: 16.2% -

Özgür Özel: 5.3% - Selahattin Demirtaş: 5.0% - Müsavat Dervişoğlu: 2.0% -

Ümit Özdağ: 1.4% - Fatih Erbakan: 1.3% - Yavuz Ağıralioğlu: 1.1% - Other: 3.0% - No Opinion/No Answer: 4.2%

COMPARISON WITH THE 2023 ELECTION

The latest poll draws attention with the decline in voter preference for Erdoğan. In the 2023 presidential election, Erdoğan received 52.18 percent support, while Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu reached 47.82 percent.