The Mayors and Independents (STAN) party has won the Czech Senate elections for the first time in six years. The elections covered one-third of the Senate’s 81 seats, with run-offs held in 22 districts. Ten of STAN’s 14 candidates were elected, including two in the first round.
The opposition Civic Democrats (ODS) also gained ground, winning seven seats despite defending only five. The governing ANO movement failed to win any of the 13 run-off contests in which its candidates took part.
The Christian Democrats and TOP 09 retained all their seats, three and two respectively. The Pirates lost their representation in the Senate after their only candidate in the run-offs failed to defend her seat. Turnout in the second round was nearly 22 percent.
Turnout in the second round was nearly 22 percent, compared with 17.5 percent in the 2024 Senate elections. Among the notable candidates in this year’s elections were former army chief of staff Karel Řehka and historian and writer Jiří Padevět, both backed by STAN, as well as Zuzana Ceralová Petrofová, head of the piano maker PETROF, who ran for ODS and was the only woman elected to the Senate this year.