# 2023 Gagauz gubernatorial election

The 2023 Gagauz gubernatorial election was held on 30 April and 14 May 2023 on the territory of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia, part of the Republic of Moldova. The position of Governor (Başkan) of Gagauzia represents one of the highest positions in the autonomy, also having the position of a member of the Government of the Republic of Moldova ex officio.

## Background

Gagauzia's autonomy is guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova and regulated by the Gagauz Autonomy Act of 1994. Irina Vlah was elected on 22 March 2015 as the Başkan of Gagauzia and won her second mandate in 2019. She is no longer eligible for a third term.
Following the statements by which Irina Vlah admitted that the official language of the Republic of Moldova is Romanian, PSRM leader Igor Dodon announced that the socialists are withdrawing their support for the governor of Gagauzia. Irina Vlah is an ex-officio member of the government of the Republic of Moldova throughout her mandate, being a member of the cabinets of Chiril Gaburici (2015), Valeriu Streleț (2015–2016), Pavel Filip (2016–2019), Maia Sandu (2019), Ion Chicu (2019–2021), Natalia Gavrilița (2021–2023) and Dorin Recean (2023–present).

## Candidates

In the 2023 election, eight candidates registered, including one party member and seven independent candidates:
| Candidate | Political party | Positions held | Endorsed by |
| Nicolai Dudoglo [ro] | Independent | Member of the Moldovan Parliament (2014–2018) Mayor of Comrat (2004–2014) | |
| Grigorii Uzun | Independent | Member of the Moldovan Parliament (2021) | Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM) Igor Dodon, 5th President of Moldova (2016–2020) |
| Mihail Formuzal | Independent | Governor of Gagauzia (2006–2015) | Victor Petrioglu, OP mayor of Vulcănești |
| Victor Petrov | Independent | Member of the People's Assembly of Gagauzia (since 2021) | Vasile Bolea, Member of the Moldovan Parliament for BCS |
| Dumitru Croitor [ro] | Independent | Ambassador to Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan (since 2019) Governor of Gagauzia (1999–2002) | |
| Serghei Cernev | Independent | Member of the People's Assembly of Gagauzia | |
| Evghenia Guțul | Șor Party | No previous offices | Șor Party |
| Serghei Cimpoieș | Independent | Member of the People's Assembly of Gagauzia (since 2021) | |

## Opinion polls

| Dates conducted | Polling firm | Sample size | Petrov Ind. | Guțul ȘOR | Uzun Ind. | Dudoglo [ro] Ind. | Formuzal Ind. | Croitor [ro] Ind. | Cimpoieș Ind. | Cernev Ind. | Lead |
| 14 May 2023 (2nd round) | CEC | – | – | 52.3 | 47.7 | – | – | – | – | – | 4.6 |
| 30 Apr 2023 (1st round) | CEC | – | 16.2 | 26.5 | 26.4 | 9.0 | 3.5 | 10.4 | 5.7 | 2.3 | 0.1 |
| 30 Apr 2023 | Intellect Group-SPERO | 984 | 22 | 16 | 24 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 18–23 Apr 2023 | iData | 1,023 | 12.7 | 18.3 | 20.5 | 11.1 | 10.4 | 15.2 | 8.3 | 3.5 | 2.2 |
| 12–20 Apr 2023 | Başkan Elections 2023 | 2,060 | 46 | 18 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 28 |
| 28 Mar – 3 Apr 2023 | Başkan Elections 2023 | 1,050 | 55 | — | 16 | 11 | 10 | 6 | — | 2 | 39 |

## Results

| Candidate | Candidate | Party | First round | First round | Second round | Second round |
| Candidate | Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Votes | % |
| | Evghenia Guțul | Șor Party | 14,890 | 26.47 | 27,374 | 52.34 |
| | Grigorii Uzun | Independent | 14,849 | 26.40 | 24,926 | 47.66 |
| | Victor Petrov | Independent | 9,133 | 16.24 | | |
| | Dumitru Croitor [ro] | Independent | 5,825 | 10.35 | | |
| | Nicolai Dudoglo [ro] | Independent | 5,059 | 8.99 | | |
| | Serghei Cimpoieș | Independent | 3,228 | 5.74 | | |
| | Mihail Formuzal | Independent | 1,969 | 3.50 | | |
| | Serghei Cernev | Independent | 1,301 | 2.31 | | |
| Total | Total | Total | 56,254 | 100.00 | 52,300 | 100.00 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 56,254 | 98.51 | 52,300 | 97.44 |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 853 | 1.49 | 1,376 | 2.56 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 57,107 | 100.00 | 53,676 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 92,563 | 61.70 | 92,558 | 57.99 |
| Source: Central Electoral Commission – First round, Data, Second round, Data |||||||

## Controversies

Some sectors of the Romanian press criticised the fact that all the candidates were pro-Russian, anti-Romanian and Eurosceptic.