Beyond economics: Covid-19 vaccination and religious motivations in Romania's 2025 presidential elections

This article investigates the factors shaping voter preferences in Romania’s 2025 presidential election, focusing on the runoff between a centrist and a nationalist-conservative-populist candidate. Using electoral data combined with regional indicators, the analysis assesses the relative importance of economic development and Covid-19 vaccination rates – considered a proxy for cultural contextual landscapes related to historical legacies, religiosity and traditionalism. As expected, economic and social development are associated with greater support for the centrist candidate. However, cultural factors also play a decisive role: Covid-19 vaccination rates at the county level, followed by support for traditionalism measured by attitude towards the 2019 “Family” Referendum, are both strong predictors of support for the conservative candidate. These findings highlight the persistence of cultural and attitudinal divides in shaping political preferences in post-communist Romania, and the need to account for them alongside socioeconomic explanations.