Gábor Vona, leader of the radical nationalist Jobbik party, was preferred by 9% of Századvég’s sample. Altogether 13% were noncommittal. In a statement on Monday, the think-tank said that Botka was clearly the most popular candidate among left-wing voters but failed to appeal to centrists and fence-sitters.

According to the telephone survey carried out between May 20 and 28 with a representative sample of 1,000 voting-age adults, 53% would be less likely to choose Botka if they knew that he was opposed to the Hungarian border fence. Századvég found that 82% of Hungarians supported the fence.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.