# 2021 Rijeka local elections

The 2021 Rijeka local elections were the elections for the 15th mayor of Rijeka, the two deputy mayors and the 31 members of the Rijeka City Council. It was a part of the Croatian local elections which were held on 16 May 2021. The incumbent mayor, Vojko Obersnel of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), announced on 6 November 2020 that he would be retiring at the end of his sixth consecutive term in office. The first round saw Marko Filipović (30.25%) and Davor Štimac (16.10%). Filipović was defending the "long-time stronghold" of the SDP against independent centre-right candidate Štimac.

## Results
### Mayoral election

| Candidates | Candidates | Candidates | First round | First round | Runoff | Runoff |
| Candidate | Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Votes | % |
| | Marko Filipović | Social Democratic Party | 11,970 | 30.25 | 18,902 | 52.64 |
| | Davor Štimac | Independent | 6,371 | 16.10 | 11,210 | 46.13 |
| | Josip Ostrogović | Croatian Democratic Union | 5,587 | 14.11 |
| | Marin Miletić | Bridge of Independent Lists | 4,474 | 11.30 |
| | Nikola Ivaniš | Alliance of Primorje-Gorski Kotar | 4,396 | 11.10 |
| | Nebojša Zelič | We Can! | 1,707 | 4.31 |
| | Ana Blečić-Jelenović | List for Fiume | 1,515 | 3.82 |
| | Katarina Peović | Worker's Front | 1,142 | 2.88 |
| | Vedran Vivoda | Youth Action | 979 | 2.47 |
| | Hrvoje Burić | Bura | 444 | 1.12 |
| | Antun Antunović | Independent | 311 | 0.78 |
| Valid votes: | Valid votes: | Valid votes: | 38,896 | 98.37 | 34,697 | 96.63 |
| Invalid votes: | Invalid votes: | Invalid votes: | 644 | 1.63 | 1,211 | 3.37 |
| Turnout: | Turnout: | Turnout: | 39,540 | 37.60 | 35,908 | 34.13 |
| Expected voters: | Expected voters: | Expected voters: | 105,231 | | 105,195 | |
| The percentages of votes from each candidate are calculated from number of valid voters The percentages of valid and invalid votes are calculated from the turnout number The turnout percentage is calculated from the number of expected voters |||||||
| Source: City of Rijeka (Election results) |||||||

### City council election

Seat change :
| | Social Democratic Party of Croatia Croatian Party of Pensioners Istrian Democratic Assembly Croatian Peasant Party | 15 / 37 | 10,883 | 28.05 | 10 / 31 | 32.26 | 5 |
| | Croatian Democratic Union | 7 / 37 | 6,325 | 16.30 | 6 / 31 | 19.35 | 1 |
| | Independent list of Davor Štimac | 0 / 37 | 4,312 | 11.11 | 4 / 31 | 12.90 | 4 |
| | The Bridge | 2 / 37 | 4,030 | 10.38 | 4 / 31 | 12.90 | 2 |
| | Alliance of Primorje-Gorski Kotar Croatian Labourists – Labour Party | 0 / 37 | 3,348 | 8.62 | 3 / 31 | 9.68 | 3 |
| | We can! New Left | 0 / 37 | 2,964 | 7.64 | 2 / 31 | 6.45 | 2 |
| | Youth Action Union of Kvarner Alternativa | 5 / 35 | 2,168 | 5.58 | 2 / 31 | 6.45 | 3 |
| | List for Fiume | 2 / 37 | 1,921 | 4.95 | 0 / 31 | 0.00 | 2 |
| | Worker's Front | 0 / 37 | 1,512 | 3.89 | 0 / 31 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Homeland Movement Croatian Party of Rights | 0 / 37 | 769 | 1.98 | 0 / 31 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Bura | 4 / 37 | 563 | 1.45 | 0 / 31 | 0.00 | 4 |
| Total: | Total: | Total: | 38,795 | 98.19 | 31 | | 6 |
| Invalid votes: | Invalid votes: | Invalid votes: | 714 | 1.81 | | | |
| Turnout: | Turnout: | Turnout: | 39,509 | 37.55 | | | |
| Expected voters: | Expected voters: | Expected voters: | 105,231 | | | | |
| The percentages of votes from each list are calculated from number of valid voters The percentages of valid and invalid votes are calculated from the turnout number The turnout percentage is calculated from the number of expected voters ||||||||
| Source: City of Rijeka ('Election results') ||||||||

### Serbian minority by-election

| Party list | Party list | Votes | % | Seats | % | Seat change |
| | Social Democratic Party of Croatia Independent Democratic Serb Party Alliance of Primorje-Gorski Kotar Istrian Democratic Assembly Croatian Party of Pensioners Croatian Peasant Party | 165 | 51.24 | 1 / 1 | 100.00 | 1 |
| | List for Fiume Democratic Alliance of Serbs | 157 | 48.76 | 0 / 1 | 0.00 | 0 |
| Total: | Total: | 322 | 96.12 | 1 | | 1 |
| Invalid votes: | Invalid votes: | 13 | 3.88 | | | |
| Turnout: | Turnout: | 335 | 4.82 | | | |
| Expected voters: | Expected voters: | 6,953 | | | | |
| The percentages of votes from each list are calculated from number of valid voters The percentages of valid and invalid votes are calculated from the turnout number The turnout percentage is calculated from the number of expected voters |||||||
| Source: City of Rijeka ('Election results') |||||||

## Opinion polls
### Mayoral election
#### First round

| Polling Firm | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Marko Filipović | Davor Štimac | Nikola Ivaniš | Josip Ostrogović | Marin Miletić | Nebojša Zelič | Ana Blečić Jelenović | Katarina Peović | Vedran Vivoda | Hrvoje Burić | Antun Antunović | Undecided | Lead |
| Election results | 16 May | — | 30.3 | 16.1 | 11.1 | 14.1 | 11.3 | 4.3 | 3.8 | 2.9 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 0.8 | - | 14.2 |
| IPSOS | 4–5 May | 600 | 22.8 | 21.2 | 14.4 | 11.5 | 9.6 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 6.3 | 1.6 |
| MASMI | 28 April – 3 May | 600 | 23.3 | 16.3 | 12.1 | 14.1 | 10.1 | 4.9 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 2.0 | - | - | - | 7.0 |
| IPSOS PULS | 16−21 April | 800 | 22.9 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 10.9 | 12.5 | 4.5 | 2.6 | 4.2 | 3.0 | - | - | - | 8.0 |
| MASMI | 11–14 March | 600 | 20.6 | 14.5 | 7.9 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 3.2 | - | 6.8 | 4.5 | 3.2 | - | - | 6.0 |
| IPSOS PULS | 27 February – 3 March | 800 | 15.4 | 14.9 | 10.9 | 8.1 | 15.8 | 4.2 | 6.3 | 5.6 | 3.2 | 1.9 | - | - | 0.4 |

#### Second round

| Polling Firm | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Marko Filipović | Davor Štimac | Nikola Ivaniš | Marin Miletić | Josip Ostrogović | Undecided | Will not vote | Lead |
| IPSOS | 4–5 May | 600 | 40.4 | 46.9 | – | – | – | 4.5 | 7.4 | 6.5 |
| IPSOS | 4–5 May | 600 | 38.8 | – | 38.8 | – | – | 6.9 | 15.1 | 0.0 |
| IPSOS | 4–5 May | 600 | 49.2 | – | – | 30.7 | – | 8.1 | 11.3 | 18.5 |
| IPSOS | 4–5 May | 600 | 52.2 | – | – | – | 31.0 | 6.5 | 9.7 | 21.2 |
| MASMI | 28 April – 3 May | 600 | 39.1 | 36.4 | – | – | – | 12.0 | 12.5 | 2.7 |
| MASMI | 28 April – 3 May | 600 | 48.3 | – | – | – | 22.1 | 13.1 | 16.5 | 26.2 |
| MASMI | 28 April – 3 May | 600 | 49.0 | – | – | 20.7 | – | − | − | 28.3 |

### Rijeka City Council

| Polling Firm | Fieldwork date | Sample size | SDP | Davor Štimac List | PGS | HDZ | Most | Možemo | RI | RF | DP | AM | Others | Undecided | Lead |
| Election results | 16 May | — | 28.1 | 11.1 | 8.6 | 16.3 | 10.4 | 7.6 | 4.9 | 3.9 | 2.0 | 5.6 | 1.5 | - | 11.8 |
| IPSOS | 4–5 May | 600 | 24.2 | 17.5 | 15 | 12.7 | 7.8 | 4.8 | 4.1 | 2.9 | 2.0 | 1.5 | - | 6.9 | 6.7 |
| MASMI | 28 April – 3 May | 600 | 23.6 | 13.1 | 8.0 | 16.7 | 9.3 | - | 4.7 | - | - | 4.9 | - | - | 6.9 |
| IPSOS PULS | 16−21 April | 800 | 25.3 | 12.2 | 9.4 | 12.6 | 10.7 | 7.1 | 4.8 | 2.8 | 2.2 | 6.3 | - | - | 12.8 |
| IPSOS PULS | 27 February – 3 March | 800 | 21.6 | 12.7 | 5.8 | 11.0 | 11.3 | 5.8 | 5.4 | 3.6 | 1.1 | 7.7 | - | 9.9 | 8.9 |
| MASMI | 11–14 March | 600 | 20.9 | 12.1 | 5.8 | 13.9 | 9.5 | 8.4 | 5.1 | 4.8 | - | 5.1 | - | - | 7.0 |

## Background

Workers' Front's announcement of Katarina Peović's candidature for the mayor of Rijeka caused a rift in the Green–Left Coalition and ultimately resulted in the expulsion of the Workers' Front from the coalition in December 2020, ahead of the elections.

## Aftermath

The constituent session of the city council was held on June 29 at the Croatian Cultural Center in Sušak. Ana Trošelj (PGS) was elected president of the council, and Josip Ostrogović (HDZ) and Željko Jovanović (SDP) were elected vice presidents. The majority in the council will be made up of the SDP coalition and the coalition of PGS and Labor, while the opposition includes HDZ, Most and the coalition of AM, UK and Alternativa.
Due to the failure to represent the representatives of the Serbian national minority in the council, by-elections were announced for October 3, 2021 for the election of one representative of the minority. This will increase the number of representatives in the council to 32.