Pictured: Vyškov (illustrative image)
Pictured: Vyškov (illustrative image)Photo: Palickap, 2018 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The South Moravian governor and KDU-ČSL leader Jan Grolich won, according to projections, the first round of the Senate elections in the Vyškov electoral district. According to interim results, he received almost 61 percent of the vote, and the ANO candidate about 31 percent, whom she is no longer expected to overtake. Brněnská Drbna reported this on 10 October 2026.[1]

Grolich has been governor of the South Moravian Region since 2020, has been a regional councillor since 2016, and in April 2026 was elected leader of KDU-ČSL. He called the result unbelievable. Earlier he named certain transport projects as his priority and he also wants to help mayors in the region with their projects.[1]

According to Brněnská Drbna, Grolich wants to try combining the offices of governor and senator and expects the support of KDU-ČSL for this. He plans to run for the Chamber of Deputies, and therefore, he says, he may be a senator only until then.[1]

In other South Moravian districts the outcome was open at the time of the report. In the Znojmo area about 82 percent of polling districts had been counted and Tomáš Třetina (TOP 09) led with 34.73 percent of the vote. In the Brno-City district Zdeněk Papoušek (ODS) led with 41.07 percent, with around ten percent counted. The second round of the Senate elections was to be held on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 October.[1]

Related articles: 2026 municipal and Senate elections, Jan Grolich, South Moravian Region, Vyškov

Statements by candidates and the course of election night

Jan Grolich, KDU-ČSL leader and South Moravian governor, said on 10 October 2026, with about two thirds of results counted, that he risks not completing the whole six-year Senate term: as the leader of a parliamentary party, he will, in his words, have to run in the parliamentary elections. For now he does not want to give up the post of governor. In his view, the campaign showed that even a decent campaign can be successful.[2][3]

Grolich rejoiced already after about sixty percent of votes had been counted; according to him, forecasts showed that the winner could be decided in the first round. The Christian Democrats had their main election headquarters in the Orlovna hall in Šlapanice near Brno. Senator Břetislav Rychlík, elected for TOP 09, was also present.[2][3]

Two rivals ran against Grolich. The ANO movement fielded Petra Absolonová, a nurse at the Masarykův onkologický ústav, who replaced the original candidate Petr Babula, head of the Institute of Physiology at Masaryk University. Absolonová received 29.99 percent of the vote and Jaroslav Fládr, mayor of Studnice for the Přísaha movement, 6.66 percent.[2][3]

The regional leader of ANO, Alena Schillerová, said that Babula had withdrawn from the candidacy under threats, and that she does not view Absolonová's result negatively because she entered the race late and stood against all the established parties. She congratulated Grolich on his victory.[2][3]

Chronology

  • — According to projections, South Moravian Governor and KDU-ČSL leader Jan Grolich won the first round of the Senate election in the Vyškov area with almost 61 percent of the vote, while the ANO candidate received around 31 percent. Brněnská Drbna
  • — In the first round of the Senate elections in the Vyškov area, KDU-ČSL chairman and South Moravian governor Jan Grolich won the most votes; Petra Absolonová of the ANO movement came second with 29.99 percent. iDNES.cz Lidovky.cz

Sources

  1. Brněnská Drbna — 10 October 2026
  2. iDNES.cz — 10 October 2026
  3. Lidovky.cz — 10 October 2026