Far-right populist Calin Georgescu enters Romania's presidential runoff with most votes

A little-known far-right populist has won in Romania’s presidential election first round and will face off against reformist Elena Lasconi in a runoff in two weeks, an outcome that has rocked the country's political landscape.

Calin Georgescu was ahead by Monday afternoon after nearly all ballots were counted, with around 22.95% of the vote.

Lasconi, of the progressive Save Romania Union party, or USR, followed with 19.17%. She beat to the runoff incumbent Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), who had a 19.15% percentage. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, or AUR, took 13.87%.

It is the first time in Romania’s 35-year post-communist history for the PSD not to have a candidate in the second round of a presidential race, serving a huge blow to the country’s most powerful party and underscoring voters’ anti-establishment sentiment.

Ciolacu's shocking defeat prompted him to submit his resignation as party leader on Monday.

After polls closed, 9.4 million people - just over 52% of eligible voters - had cast their ballots, according to data from the Permanent Electoral Authority.

Georgescu ran independently and was not widely known. He outperformed most local surveys, sending shockwaves through Romania's political establishment as he ascended to poll position.

After casting his ballot on Sunday, Georgescu said in a post on Facebook that he voted, "For the unjust, for the humiliated, for those who feel they do not matter and actually matter the most … the vote is a prayer for the nation."

According to his website, Georgescu has a doctorate in soil science and held different positions in Romania's environment ministry in the 1990s.

Between 1999 and 2012, he was a