Tarlos maintains lead with 53 pc of decided voters

Three weeks ahead of the October 13 local elections, incumbent Budapest mayor Istvan Tarlos has the support of 53 percent of decided voters, followed by joint opposition candidate Gergely Karacsony with 40 percent and independent Robert Puzser with 7 percent, the Nezopont Institute told MTI on Monday. Among all Budapest voters, Tarlos, of ruling Fidesz, has 43 percent of the vote, Karacsony 29 percent and Puzser 6 percent, the pollster said. Independent candidate Krisztian Berki has one percent among all voters and polls below one percent among decided voters, it said. While in early September, 60 percent of voters thought Tarlos would be re-elected, by mid-September that number grew to 64 percent, Nezopont said. Fully 43 percent of opposition voters also think it likely that Tarlos will win, the pollster said.