Savisaar, Kross Leading the Race for Tallinn Mayor
With e-voting kicking off today, 10 days ahead of municipal election day, the biggest battle to watch is that for the Tallinn mayor's office.
In that race, if media attention is any indicator, two candidates have so far outpaced the rest: long-time Mayor Edgar Savisaar and the former national security official Eerik-Niiles Kross, representing the Center Party and IRL, respectively. The lead is still clearly held by Savisaar, who currently has his hands full with ribbon-cutting ceremonies, while Kross has managed to sling enough mud to earn the distinction of main rival.
Meanwhile, the Reform Party's Valdo Randpere and Social Democrat Andres Anvelt have for the time being been left in the dust, according to an ERR-commissioned media study by Meedius.
In that analysis, which monitored print and online media, Kross received a little bit less media coverage than Savisaar in September, but far more than the other top candidates.
The Center Party was mentioned 942 times in print media in September, with more than a third naming Savisaar as well. As a party, Reform was second, with 842, having been number one for the better part of the year.
With regard to political coverage overall, in August, the number of mentions received by political parties grew 60 percent from the month before, and in September that figure grew another 70 percent from the month before.