Ljubljana - Eight candidates submitted valid bids for the October presidential election, the National Electoral Commission has confirmed as the deadline for bids expired on Wednesday. Polls indicate a close race between lawyer Nataša Pirc Musar and Democrats (SDS) MP Anže Logar as well as potentially the late entrant, SocDems MEP Milan Brglez.

The first round of the election for the successor to Borut Pahor, who cannot stand for a third term, is scheduled for 23 October, with the ballot subject to changes by the 3 October deadline for potential withdrawals.

The outcome of the vote is fairly open, with most of the media and polls spotlight so far being on Pirc Musar, whose career has spanned from news anchor to information commissioner and high-profile lawyer, and Logar, foreign minister in the 2020-2022 government and seen by some as a potential successor to Janez Janša at the helm of the SDS.

The pair have been neck-and-neck in polls at between 20% and 30% roughly, but most of the surveys did not feature Brglez, whose candidacy was announced by the coalition SD only two weeks ago and backed by the ruling Freedom Movement shortly after.

Rivalling Pirc Musar, who is running with the support of voter signatures, among centre-left voters for a spot in a likely second round of voting, Brglez got 9% in third place in a recent Mediana poll.

This poll gave Pirc Musar 28% and Logar 23% and along with previous surveys also measured decent support for Kočevje Mayor Vladimir Prebilič, a defence expert backed by the non-parliamentary green party Vesna and voter signatures.

Meanwhile, chipping away some votes from Logar in the first round among centre-right voters could be the head of the deputy group of the opposition New Slovenia (NSi) and former labour minister Janez Cigler Kralj.

Another latecomer to the race is Miha Kordiš, an outspoken MP of the coalition Left. The 33-year-old's impact on the race is hard to gauge, he is however known for hardline leftist rhetoric.

Two lesser known candidates with little to no political experience are gynaecologist Sabina Senčar, supported by the non-parliamentary party Resni.ca founded amid the Covid epidemic to oppose restrictions, and Gregor Bezenšek, a musician best known for co-founding a charity helping children with rare diseases.