Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, associate professor of History at the University of Iceland holds a commanding lead in the presidential race. The poll found 69% of voters say they plan to vote for Guðni. His closest challenger, former Prime Minister and chairman of the conservative Independence party, Davíð Oddsson has the support of 13.7% of voters while 10.7% would vote for author and environmental activist Andri Snær Magnason. Other candidates receive a combined 6.7%.
Guðni told the local news site visir.is that he was “deeply touched” by the support: “Perhaps people see my candidacy as a sign there is hope we can stand together and face the future with optimism. We don‘t need to fear the future.”
Read more: Analysis: Presidential race heats up as former PM enters the race, a bomb thrown into the race
The poll, conducted by the local newspaper Fréttablaðið, is the first taken after Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, the sitting president, would not be seeking re-election to a sixth term. Ólafur Ragnar entered the race on 18 April with a surprise press conference, after having announced in his new-years address that he was stepping down this summer.
Ólafur held a strong lead over his challengers in the first polls after entering the race, but his position was weakened after the Panama Papers leak revealed he had ties to off-shore companies in tax havens through his wife, Dorrit Moussaieff.
Read more: Dorrit Moussaieff, wife of the president of Iceland owns two off-shore companies in tax havens
On Sunday 8 May Davíð Oddsson, a bitter political rival of Ólafur since the 1980s entered the race. With Davíð in the race, and polls showing he was running neck to neck with Guðni Th., who announced his candidacy only 3 days earlier on 5 May, Ólafur decided to withdraw his candidacy, barely two weeks into his sixth presidential campaign.
Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, associate professor of History at the University of Iceland holds a commanding lead in the presidential race. The poll found 69% of voters say they plan to vote for Guðni. His closest challenger, former Prime Minister and chairman of the conservative Independence party, Davíð Oddsson has the support of 13.7% of voters while 10.7% would vote for author and environmental activist Andri Snær Magnason. Other candidates receive a combined 6.7%.
Guðni told the local news site visir.is that he was “deeply touched” by the support: “Perhaps people see my candidacy as a sign there is hope we can stand together and face the future with optimism. We don‘t need to fear the future.”
Read more: Analysis: Presidential race heats up as former PM enters the race, a bomb thrown into the race
The poll, conducted by the local newspaper Fréttablaðið, is the first taken after Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, the sitting president, would not be seeking re-election to a sixth term. Ólafur Ragnar entered the race on 18 April with a surprise press conference, after having announced in his new-years address that he was stepping down this summer.
Ólafur held a strong lead over his challengers in the first polls after entering the race, but his position was weakened after the Panama Papers leak revealed he had ties to off-shore companies in tax havens through his wife, Dorrit Moussaieff.
Read more: Dorrit Moussaieff, wife of the president of Iceland owns two off-shore companies in tax havens
On Sunday 8 May Davíð Oddsson, a bitter political rival of Ólafur since the 1980s entered the race. With Davíð in the race, and polls showing he was running neck to neck with Guðni Th., who announced his candidacy only 3 days earlier on 5 May, Ólafur decided to withdraw his candidacy, barely two weeks into his sixth presidential campaign.
