SDSM member of Parliament Aleksandar Filipovski announced that he will run for Mayor of Skopje’s Aerodrom district. Moments later, incumbent Mayor Zlatko Marin, who has been actively campaigning over the past days, also declared that he is running.

Aerodrom is one of Skopje’s most urban districts and is considered a bellwether county. It narrowly went to SDSM in the 2016 and 2017 elections, but swung back to VMRO-DPMNE in 2019 and 2020, as the citizens grew angry with the Zaev regime. A split in SDSM could only worsen their chances at the municipal elections in October.