Timișoara mayor Dominic Fritz wins race to head Romania’s reformist party USR
<p>The mayor of Timișoara, <strong>Dominic Fritz</strong>, will be the new leader of the Save Romania Union party, or USR, after he received 67.2% of the votes in an internal race.</p>
<p>The vote for the new party president was conducted online and started Wednesday at 10 AM and ended Friday at noon. A total of 10,914 members voted, representing 57.15% of the total. As Dominic Fritz obtained more than half of the votes in the first round, there is no need to organize a second round.</p>
<p>USR senator Violeta Alexandru ranked second in the internal race for USR leadership, according to <a href="https://hotnews.ro/ultima-ora-dominic-fritz-este-noul-presedinte-al-usr-victorie-categorica-2001660?utm_source=facebook&amp;utm_medium=postare&amp;utm_campaign=facebook_hotnews&amp;fbclid=IwY2xjawK4329leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFLQ21uU0ZVTWVWTkw5SkV0AR5H5XnEs6rE-jqNnvDGcapGHbVm9HZtGzgrTZzMUR_5qopnuTp599336s7_oA_aem_m8p3FXy7lSHNALUXEIkKEA">HotNews</a> sources, with 22% of the votes. A former PNL member and minister, she joined USR at the end of August 2024, about 10 months ago.</p>
<p>Next, the party will hold a congress which will validate the new president.</p>
<p>A German national, Dominic Fritz <a href="https://www.romania-insider.com/dominic-samuel-fritz-interview-2019">first came to Timisoara as a volunteer</a> in 2003, when he was 19. Now 41, he <a href="https://www.romania-insider.com/timisoara-mayor-bid-leader-usr-june-2025">launched his bid</a> for party leadership last month, proposing a “strategic reset of USR.” He also proposed changing the party's doctrine from “modern center-right,” as it currently stands, to “center,” following the line set by USR founder and now president Nicusor Dan.</p>
<p>Dominic Fritz is the sixth USR president in nine years, after Nicușor Dan, Dan Barna, Dacian Cioloș, Cătălin Drulă, and Elena Lasconi.</p>
<p>In the press conference held after the results were announced, Fritz came out against naming a technocratic prime minister as part of the ongoing talks to form a government. He maintained that USR’s proposal for the prime minister position remains the leader of the National Liberal Party, Ilie Bolojan.</p>
<p>“It’s not something that should worry us, the fact that negotiations for a government are taking three weeks. There are partners with different visions, we need to reach a consensus, not build a government hastily. We need a stable government; the fact that negotiations are taking longer is not a bad sign,” Fritz said when asked about governance.</p>
<p>He also excluded a USR merger with PNL, saying these were speculation. “The mission is to reconnect with our allies, with our voters. I will be a president who opens the party,” he assured, making a call for people to join USR.</p>
<p>He also said he will remain the mayor of Timișoara.&nbsp;</p>
<p><em><a href="mailto:radu@romania-insider.com">radu@romania-insider.com</a></em></p>
<p><em>(Photo source: Inquam Photos | Cornel Putan)</em></p>