Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, candidate for Gdansk mayor votes in a by-election to choose the successor to late mayor Pawel Adamowicz, who was fatally stabbed during a charity event in January, in Gdansk, Poland March 3, 2019. Agencja Gazeta/Bartosz Banka via REUTERS

WARSAW (Reuters) - Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, the former deputy of murdered Gdansk mayor Pawel Adamowicz, won a landslide victory in elections to replace him in the northern Polish city, preliminary results showed on Monday.

The murder of Adamowicz, a liberal critic of the anti-immigrant policies of Poland’s government, during a charity event in January provoked a wave of emotion in the country and a debate on hate speech. [nL8N1ZJ0BX]

As of 0600 GMT Dulkiewicz had won 82 percent of the vote on a turnout of 48.6 percent according to Gdansk’s website.

“This is a very good turnout in unusual and special elections which nobody expected,” Polish news agency PAP quoted Dulkiewicz as saying.

“I believe that in the last seven weeks the people of Gdansk passed the exam, not only as human beings but also as citizens.”

Poland’s major political parties did not field candidates in the election, meaning Dulkiewicz had only two opponents -- far-right candidates Grzegorz Braun and Marek Skiba.