Socialist's Radev leads Bulgaria presidential election - exit polls

Rumen Radev, presidential candidate of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, casts his vote at a polling station in Sofia, Bulgaria, November 6, 2016. REUTERS/Dimitar Kyosemarliev

SOFIA (Reuters) - Rumen Radev, the candidate of Bulgaria's opposition Socialist party, narrowly won the first round of the presidential election in Bulgaria with 24.8-26.7 percent of the vote, exit polls by Alpha Research and Gallup International showed on Sunday.

Former air force commander Radev, 53, will face ruling GERB's party candidate Tsetska Tsacheva in a run-off for the highly ceremonial post of the vote on Nov. 13. Tsacheva scored 23.5-22.5 percent, exit polls said.

(Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; writing by Radu Marinas)