2025 Zabrze mayoral election

The 2025 Zabrze mayoral election was held on in August 2025 in Zabrze to fill a vacancy left by the recall of Agnieszka Rupniewska on 12 May 2025. The first round was held on 10 August, with a second round scheduled to be held on 24 August due to no candidate reaching a majority of the vote.

Background

Małgorzata Mańka-Szulik, mayor of Zabrze between 2006 and 2024, lost her position in the 2024 mayoral election, attaining 42.15% of the second round vote. She was defeated by Agnieszka Rupniewska of the Civic Coalition (KO).[1] However, Rupniewska soon ran into popular discontent regarding group firings, budgetary issues and the lengthening privatization of Górnik Zabrze, Zabrze's local football club, and the residents of Zabrze collected 14 thousand signatures under an initiative for a recall referendum against the mayor and city council.[2][3]

Recall referendum

On 11 May 2025, the city of Zabrze held a recall referendum for its mayor and city council. The recall referendums required turnout of 3/5ths of the number of votes cast in the 2024 local elections to be valid, with the threshold being set at 25.9 thousand votes for the mayoral recall referendum (3/5ths of the second round votes in the 2024 mayoral election) and 29.6 thousand votes for the city council recall referendum (3/5ths of the votes in the election for city council). The required threshold was met for the mayoral recall referendum, but the city council recall referendum came 112 votes short of success. The option to recall won overwhelmingly in both referendums.[4][5] Ewa Weber was designated as the acting mayor of Zabrze on 17 May by Prime Minister Donald Tusk.[6]

The success of the referendum also gained attention in relation to the concurrently ongoing 2025 presidential election,[5] of which the candidate of the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, Karol Nawrocki, described the successful recall as a "symbolic referendum on the Tusk government".[7] According to an OGB exit poll, 59% of people partaking in the referendum held negative views of the incumbent national government, and 18% held positive views.[8]

Mayoral recall referendum

ChoiceVotes%
For27,16192.99
Against2,0467.01
Total29,207100.00
Valid votes29,20799.02
Invalid/blank votes2900.98
Total votes29,497100.00
Registered voters/turnout116,94925.22
Source: DZ. URZ. WOJ. SLA 2025.3265, 12 May 2025

City council recall referendum

ChoiceVotes%
For26,55191.22
Against2,5558.78
Total29,106100.00
Valid votes29,10698.69
Invalid/blank votes3861.31
Total votes29,492100.00
Registered voters/turnout116,94925.22
Source: DZ. URZ. WOJ. SLA 2025.3266, 12 May 2025

Candidate selection

Registered candidates

Name Born Last position/job Party Endorsed by
3x4.svg
Borys Borówka 		1973 (53)[9] Vice-mayor of Zabrze (2018–2024)[10]
City councillor of Zabrze[11] 		Law and Justice[12]
3x4.svg
Łucja Chrzęstek-Bar 		(48) Vice-chairman of the Zabrze city council[11] Independent[13]
3x4.svg
Sebastian Dziębowski 		(36) City councillor of Zabrze[11] New Hope[14] Confederation[15]
3x4.svg
Rafał Kobos 		(49)
Zabrze, Silesia[16] 		Head of the Bureau for Investors in Zabrze[11] Independent[17]
Ewa Weber.png
Ewa Weber 		5 August 1971 (54)
Zabrze, Silesia 		Acting mayor of Zabrze (2025)[11] Independent[18] Civic Platform[15]
3x4.svg
Kamil Żbikowski 		(38) City councillor of Zabrze[11] Independent[19] Better Zabrze[20]

Campaign issues

Prominent campaign issues included the city's debt, privatization of the local Górnik Zabrze football club, and the future role of Zabrze in the Upper Silesian-Dąbrowa Basin Metropolis.[21]

Campaign

During the election campaign, national politicians campaigned for mayoral candidates. Jarosław Kaczyński, the chairman of Law and Justice (PiS), arrived in Zabrze on 3 August to endorse Borys Borówka. Leader of the Confederation, Sławomir Mentzen organized a rally on 24 July for his party's candidate, Sebastian Dziębowski.[15][11][22] Rafał Kobos was endorsed by former mayor Małgorzata Mańka-Szuluk, and ran from the "Effective for Zabrze and Małgorzata Mańka-Szulik" committee.[16] The Civic Platform's (PO) candidate, Ewa Weber, was attacked for having ties with Gliwice, a neighboring city with negative connotations in Zabrze.[15] Weber was previously the vice-mayor of Gliwice.[23]

During a pre-election debate, Borówka gave Weber a scarf of Piast Gliwice, a rival football club to the local Górnik Zabrze, calling out her Gliwice roots. In response, Weber displayed she was wearing a Górnik Zabrze shirt.[24]

Timeline

The electoral calendar was:[25]

Timeline of the 2025 Zabrze mayoral election
DateEvent description
on the date ordinance is issued
  • Providing public information in the form of a notice by the Silesian Voivode, the ordinance of the Prime Minister regarding early elections of the mayor of Zabrze in the Silesian Voivodeship
until 16 June 2025
  • Providing public information in the form of a notice about the designated seat of the Municipal Electoral Commission in Zabrze
until 16 June 2025
  • Notification of the Electoral Commissioner in Katowice II about the establishment of an electoral committee and the intention to nominate candidates for the mayor of Zabrze
until 26 June 2025
  • Submitting to the Electoral Commissioner in Katowice II candidates for members of the Municipal Electoral Commission in Zabrze
until 1 July 2025
  • Appointment of the Municipal Electoral Commission in Zabrze by the Electoral Commissioner in Katowice II
until 7 July 2025
  • Establishment of polling districts in medical facilities, social welfare facilities, penal institutions and detention centers, as well as in extramural departments of these establishments, dormitories and complexes of dormitories, as well as determination of their boundaries, consecutive number, as well as their locations
until 11 July 2025
  • Providing public information on the consecutive numbers and boundaries of polling districts, as well as location of district electoral commissions, including premises adapted to the needs of disabled persons, as well as the possibility of postal voting and proxy voting,
  • Submission of requests to establish polling districts aboard Polish ships by captains of ships,
  • Nomination of candidates to district electoral commission by agents of election committees
until 11 July 2025
  • Nomination to the Electoral Commissar in Katowice II of candidates to district electoral commissions
DateEvent description
until 16 July 2025 at 16:00 CEST
  • Submitting to the Electoral Commissar in Katowice II candidates for the mayor of Zabrze
until 21 July 2025
  • Establishment by the Electoral Commissar in Katowice II of district electoral commissions
from 26 July 2025 until 8 August 2025 at 00:00 CEST
  • Broadcast without payment of the election programmes, prepared by election committees by means of public radio and television broadcasters
until 28 July 2025
  • Providing public information in the form of a notice, by means of posting the announcement of the Municipal Electoral Commission in Zabrze about the registered candidates for the Mayor of Zabrze
until 28 July 2025
  • Notice to the Electoral Commissar in Katowice II of the intention to vote by correspondence by disabled voters, including by means of overlays on ballot papers in Braille alphabet, and by voters who are 60 years of age or older on the day of voting
until 1 August 2025
  • Notice of the intention to vote by correspondence by disabled voters, including by means of overlays on ballot papers in Braille alphabet, and by voters who are 60 years of age or older on the day of voting
On 8 August 2025 at 00:00 CEST
  • The electoral campaign formally concludes
  • Election silence commences: no political broadcasts, social media posts, or issuing of new physical advertising materials is allowed
On 10 August 2025
  • The vote takes place between 7:00–21:00 CEST

Opinion polls

An exit poll conducted on 11 May for the recall referendums released by OGB showed the voting intention of voters in a hypothetical first round election:[26]

  • Kamil Żbikowski – 36.36%
  • Borys Borówka – 23.86%
  • Alina Nowak – 13.64%
  • Sebastian Dziębowski – 13.64%
  • Rafał Kobos – 6.82%
  • Tomasz Olichwer – 5.68%

Results

In the first round, no candidate scored a majority of votes, with Weber coming in first by a wide margin, and Żbikowski coming second narrowly ahead of Borówka and Dziębowski.

CandidatePartyVotes%
Ewa WeberIndependent (PO)12,70039.29
Kamil ŻbikowskiIndependent5,21616.14
Borys BorówkaLaw and Justice4,94415.29
Sebastian DziębowskiConfederation (NN)4,55614.09
Rafał KobosIndependent3,1939.88
Łucja Chrzęstek-BarIndependent1,7165.31
Total32,325100.00
Valid votes32,32599.39
Invalid/blank votes2000.61
Total votes32,525100.00
Registered voters/turnout116,72327.87
Source: National Electoral Commission[27]

References

  1. ^ Wyniki w wyborach Prezydenta Miasta Zabrze, retrieved 2025-08-10
  2. ^ Kozieł, Grzegorz (9 May 2025). "Referendalna niedziela w Zabrzu. Ważą się losy prezydentki i Rady Miasta". TOK FM. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  3. ^ Styczeń, Dominik (24 March 2025). "Jest data referendum w Zabrzu. Mieszkańcy zdecydują o przyszłości miasta". Telewizja Polska. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  4. ^ Sieńkowski, Dawid (12 May 2025). "Mieszkańcy mieli już dość. Prezydent miasta odwołana w referendum". Do Rzeczy. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  5. ^ a b Dziadul, Jan (12 May 2025). "Zabrze: prezydentka odwołana, rada miasta uratowana o włos. To prawdziwa sensacja". Polityka. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  6. ^ Nowa pełniąca funkcję Prezydenta Miasta Zabrze, 17 May 2025, retrieved 2025-08-10
  7. ^ Sieńkowski, Dawid (12 May 2025). ""Jasny sygnał". Nawrocki: Otrzymałem niezwykle ważną informację". Do Rzeczy. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  8. ^ Kraszyna, Leszek (13 May 2025). "Wyjaśniamy, co stało się w Zabrzu. Czy odwołanie w referendum prezydentki to dobry znak dla PiS?". OKO.press. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  9. ^ "Borys Aleksander Borówka". Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  10. ^ Cius-Rassek, Renata (8 August 2025). "Zabrze wybiera nowego prezydenta. Sześciu kandydatów i dużo obietnic". Fakt. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g "Kto wygra w Zabrzu?". wszystkoconajwazniejsze.pl. 7 August 2025. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  12. ^ "Informacje o kandydacie BORÓWKA Borys Aleksander". Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  13. ^ "Informacje o kandydacie CHRZĘSTEK-BAR Łucja Katarzyna". Archived from the original on 2025-08-10. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  14. ^ "Informacje o kandydacie DZIĘBOWSKI Sebastian". Archived from the original on 2025-08-10. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  15. ^ a b c d Ruszkiewicz, Sylwester (7 August 2025). "Wybory w środku wakacji. Platformę Obywatelską czeka trudny sprawdzian". wp.pl. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  16. ^ a b Sobierajski, Piotr (17 June 2025). "Rafał Kobos będzie walczył o stanowisko prezydenta Zabrza. Ma poparcie Małgorzaty Mańki-Szulik. "Musimy wrócić do rozwoju miasta"". zabrze naszemiasto. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
  17. ^ "Informacje o kandydacie KOBOS Rafał Tomasz". Archived from the original on 2025-08-10. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  18. ^ "Informacje o kandydacie WEBER Ewa". Archived from the original on 2025-08-10. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  19. ^ "Informacje o kandydacie ŻBIKOWSKI Kamil Piotr". Archived from the original on 2025-08-10. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  20. ^ "Wybory Zabrze 2025: znamy oficjalnych kandydatów na prezydenta miasta". Europerspektywy. 21 July 2025. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  21. ^ Pawlik, Paweł (7 August 2025). "Wybory w Zabrzu. Kamil Żbikowski: "Polityka cięć, zwolnień i podnoszenia opłat była drogą do zwijania miasta i zdławienia potencjału"". Dziennik Zachodni. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
  22. ^ "Tylko nieliczni kandydaci z poparciem partii. Finisz kampanii wyborczej w Zabrzu". portalsamorzadowy.pl. 7 August 2025. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
  23. ^ Czoik, Tomasz (22 October 2022). "Wiceprezydent Gliwic została szefową miejskiego koła Platformy Obywatelskiej". Gazeta Wyborcza. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  24. ^ Kowalski, Łukasz (7 August 2025). "Polityk PiS zaskoczył kandydatkę KO. Wręczył jej szalik Piasta Gliwice. Jej reakcja jest hitem [WIDEO]". Fakt. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  25. ^ "Kalendarz wyborczy". Archived from the original on 2025-08-10. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  26. ^ "Kto ma szanse zostać prezydentem Zabrza? Jest sondaż". TVP. 22 May 2025. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  27. ^ Wybory Przedterminowe na Prezydenta Miasta Zabrze, archived from the original on 2025-08-11, retrieved 2025-08-11
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