PM Ponta leads Romania presidential race, partial results show

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania's leftist Prime Minister Victor Ponta led the first round of a presidential election on Sunday, partial results showed, beating his nearest challenger, an ethnic German mayor backed by two centre-right parties. Ponta was ahead with 37.5 percent of the vote, compared to his main rival Klaus Iohannis on 30.3 percent, with votes at 17 percent of polling stations counted. The result, which reflected exit polls released on Sunday evening, means the two would compete in a run-off due on Nov 16. (Reporting by Radu-Sorin Marinas and Matthias Williams)