2018 Czech Senate election

← 2016 5–6 October 2018 (first round) 12–13 October 2018 (second round) 2020 →
27 of the 81 seats in the Senate
First party Second party Third party   Leader Petr Fiala Petr Gazdík Pavel Bělobrádek Party ODS STAN KDU-ČSL Seats won 10 5 2 First round 163,630 15.02% 79,025 7.25% 99,383 9.12% Second round 116,376 27.86% 47,317 11.33% 34,833 8.34%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Andrej Babiš Jan Hamáček Ivan Bartoš Party ANO ČSSD Pirates Seats won 1 1 1 First round 147,477 13.53% 100,478 9.22% 66,281 6.08% Second round 57,500 13.76% 33,887 8.11% 17,528 4.20%

Politics of the Czech Republic
Constitution Constitutional acts Charter of Fundamental Rights and Basic Freedoms
Executive President (list) Petr Pavel Government Prime Minister (list) Petr Fiala
Parliament Senate Chamber of Deputies
Judiciary Constitutional Court Supreme Court Supreme Administrative Court High Courts Regional Courts District Courts
Recent elections Legislative: 2006 2010 2013 2017 2021 Senate: 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 European: 2009 2014 2019 2024 Presidential: 2008 2013 2018 2023
Administrative divisions Regions Districts Municipalities
Foreign relations Czech Republic–Germany relations Czech Republic–France relations Czech Republic–United Kingdom relations Czech Republic–United States relations Czech Republic–China relations Czech Republic–Russia relations Czech Republic–Ukraine relations Politics of the European Union
Czech Republic portal Other countries
v t e

Senate elections were held in the Czech Republic on 5 and 6 October 2018 alongside municipal elections, with a second round held on 12 and 13 October 2018. The Conservative Civic Democratic Party (ODS) won the election with 10 seats. Governing parties ANO 2011 and the Czech Social Democratic Party were heavily defeated, winning only 1 seat each. The Communist Party lost its last seat in the Senate when Václav Homolka failed to be re-elected, meaning the party would be without representation in the Senate for the first time in the history of Czech Republic. The election was considered the first major win for the opposition to Andrej Babiš' Cabinet. Commentators including Josef Kopecký also noted ODS confirmed their position as the main opposition party, ahead of the Czech Pirate Party.^[1][2][3][4]

Electoral system

One-third of the 81-member Senate is elected every two years, giving Senators six year terms. Members of the Senate are elected in single-member constituencies using the two-round system.^[5]

Composition of contested seats prior to the elections

List of contested districts

Campaign

The Senate election campaign ran parallel to the campaign for the municipal elections.^[6]

ANO 2011 launched their campaign on 3 September 2018. Babiš said that ANO was offering many highly qualified candidates, including Ivan Pilný and Eva Syková.^[7]

The Czech Social Democratic Party launched their campaign on 5 September 2018, focused on social issues.^[which?][8]

The Civic Democratic Party (ODS) launched their campaign on 7 September 2018. Petr Fiala stated that the election would be a conflict of two worlds, with ODS representing the world of experienced candidates and ANO 2011 representing the world of repeated restarts.^[9]

Election forecast

Campaign finances

Results

The Civic Democratic Party (ODS) was the most successful party in the first round, with 11 candidates proceeding to the second round. ANO 2011 had 10 candidates proceeding.^[12]

Nominating party		First round			Second round			Seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Won	Not up	Total	+/–
	Civic Democratic Party	163,630	15.02	0	116,376	27.86	10	10	6	16	+7
	ANO 2011	147,477	13.53	0	57,500	13.76	1	1	6	7	0
	Czech Social Democratic Party	100,478	9.22	0	33,887	8.11	1	1	12	13	–12
	KDU-ČSL	99,383	9.12	1	34,833	8.34	1	2	14	16	+2
	Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia	80,371	7.38	0	3,578	0.86	0	0	0	0	–1
	Mayors and Independents	79,025	7.25	1	47,317	11.33	4	5	5	10	+5
	Freedom and Direct Democracy	70,110	6.43	0				0	0	0	0
	Czech Pirate Party	66,281	6.08	0	17,528	4.20	1	1	0	1	0
	TOP 09	41,980	3.85	0	22,580	5.40	1	1	2	3	+1
	Senator 21	33,860	3.11	0	24,250	5.80	1	1	5	6	New
	Marek Hilšer for Senate	15,045	1.38	0	11,903	2.85	1	1	0	1	New
	Freeholder Party of the Czech Republic	12,265	1.13	0	7,176	1.72	0	0	1	1	0
	For Health	11,180	1.03	0				0	0	0	New
	Realists	8,407	0.77	0				0	0	0	New
	Party of Common Sense	7,186	0.66	0				0	0	0	0
	Ostravak	6,178	0.57	0	4,906	1.17	1	1	0	1	0
	Movement for Prague 11	4,980	0.46	0				0	1	1	0
	New Future for Liberec Region	4,744	0.44	0				0	0	0	0
	SNK European Democrats	4,446	0.41	0				0	0	0	0
	Czech National Social Party	4,438	0.41	0				0	0	0	New
	Pévéčko	3,425	0.31	0				0	0	0	New
	Czech Sovereignty	3,300	0.30	0				0	0	0	New
	Party of Civic Rights	3,286	0.30	0				0	0	0	–1
	Party of Free Citizens	2,884	0.26	0				0	0	0	0
	Moravian Land Movement	2,641	0.24	0				0	0	0	New
	Ordinary Citizens	2,010	0.18	0				0	0	0	New
	Green Party	1,818	0.17	0				0	1	1	–1
	Moravian and Silesian Pirate Party	1,789	0.16	0				0	0	0	New
	Moravané	1,484	0.14	0				0	0	0	0
	Koruna Česká	1,443	0.13	0				0	0	0	0
	Patriots of the Czech Republic	1,369	0.13	0				0	0	0	New
	NE-VOLIM	1,346	0.12	0				0	0	0	New
	Order of the Nation	1,172	0.11	0				0	0	0	0
	Independents	1,061	0.10	0				0	0	0	0
	Club of Committed Non-Party Members	1,001	0.09	0				0	0	0	New
	Alternative for Czechia 2017	794	0.07	0				0	0	0	New
	Party of State of Direct Democracy	499	0.05	0				0	0	0	New
	Citizens of the Czech Republic	491	0.05	0				0	0	0	New
	Alliance of National Forces	390	0.04	0				0	0	0	New
	Enough is Enough	258	0.02	0				0	0	0	New
	Roma Democratic Party	216	0.02	0				0	0	0	New
	Nation Together	41	0.00	0				0	0	0	New
	Independents	95,507	8.76	0	35,938	8.60	3	3	1	4	+2
Total		1,089,689	100.00	2	417,772	100.00	25	27	54	81	0
Valid votes		1,089,689	95.90		417,772	99.49
Invalid/blank votes		46,573	4.10		2,151	0.51
Total votes		1,136,262	100.00		419,923	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		2,743,745	41.41		2,547,488	16.48
Source: Volby