[jolepp]

Sauli Niinistö is maintaining his lead in the polls ahead of the final round of the presidential election. In YLE’s election survey 62 percent of respondents were set to support Niinistö, while 38 percent backed Pekka Haavisto. Those figures exclude the 23 percent of respondents who either would not vote or did not want to say who they would vote for.

Niinistö’s support is strongest among those who identify themselves as Christian Democrats, National Coalition party or Centre party supporters. A majority of Swedish People’s Party and Finns’ Party supporters also support Niinistö. Haavisto is the favoured candidate among Social Democrats, Left Alliance voters and Green League supporters.

Among Social Democrats, Haavisto’s lead is 54-46 percent, while 88 percent of Left Alliance supporters say they will vote for Haavisto. Niinistö gets 81 percent of Centre party voters’ and 71 percent of Finns’ Party voters’ support.
Pollster Taloustutkimus interviewed 1,492 people between 25 January and 1 February, and the margin of error is around 2.5 percentage points.

Niinistö support solid before presidential vote | News | YLE Uutiset | yle.fi



(Salmiakki and sauna are hard to come by in the US, some other articles a Finn is prone to miss are rye bread and the mildly roasted coffee .)

[Nesster]

some other articles a Finn is prone to miss are rye bread and the mildly roasted coffee

We do get Finncrisp and Wasa, and can go to Ikea (or in NYC, Russ & Daughters) for some Kallen Kaviaari and other such. What's understood as Jewish food here often actually is Baltic, which fits a Finnish palate pretty well.

Oh, and we can get erstaz Swedish coffe around here - Gevalia is the brand (used to be mail order, but now it's showing up in super markets)...

[jolepp]

Finncrisp, Finlandia Vodka and Fiskars scissors were the things that were readily available (1994-97, Mt. View, CA). I would seem to recall that the other dried rye bread (in Safeway conveniently on the way to work) akin to Wasa (good stuff, esp. with Kallen Kaviaari) was from Sweden as well. The ITT Sheraton in Seatle - BTW - had a decent sauna (alas 'made in Sweden' too ).

Gevalia would seem to be more roasted (bitter) than the typical Finnish brands (Juhla Mokka, Presidentti , Saludo, Kulta Katriina, ...), probably a different mix (of cultivars) too, on the local web page they profess that the blend (sold here) has been adapted to Finnish taste so they may have changed that since I last tried. These days Gevalia is apparently a brand of Kraft Foods, that might explain how it is showing up in supermarkets over there (?).

[Nesster]

Yes, the coffee thing can be tough, there are some very blond roasts available, though you have to go to a coffee store to buy it. And Ikea sells Swedish coffee, natch.

Fiskars is going strong, and Rapala is around; ABU is Garcia around here. Finlandia has lost a bit to some fancy vodkas... there's a Svedka that is surprisingly cheap and good (for a Swedish vodka).

Every now and then another Marimekko store pops up in Manhattan, only to disappear after some years. I haven't bought anything in decades, though the shirts from the late 70s are still like new.

[jolepp]

HS: Haavisto wants to promote peace mediation, exports and free trade, Sauli Niinistö promotes exports, human rights and fighting climate change.

(Oh yes, plenty Rapala around and actually Kone (elevators). Curiously Nokia was practically nowhere to be found, I suspect their phones were sold operator branded though. Then again they have always struggled in the US market.)

[Nesster]

Nokia was very big for a while, they got caught by the smart phone thing and have lost market share as a result. My first 3 cells were Nokias.

[jolepp]

Economic affairs came to the fore as the only divisive issue in the final televised debate between the candidates in this Sunday's Finnish presidential election. National Coalition candidate Sauli Niinistö and Green League candidate Pekka Haavisto differed over the importance of economic growth and over tougher rules within the EU. Otherwise, there were no major clashes between the two.
...

Final Debate: Economic issues divide candidates | News | YLE Uutiset | yle.fi

(Nokia phones were pretty ace as long as 'phones' were mostly phones. They got caught on resting their laurels, corporate bureaucracy / intertia / bean-countery / politics / ... while in theory they could have come up with a proper 'smartphone' before Apple).

[jolepp]

Absentee vote counts are in:

Sauli Niinistö - 65,4 %
Pekka Haavisto - 34,6 %

Results with 49.2 % of the vote counted | News | YLE Uutiset | yle.fi

edit:

Current count status here.

[jolepp]

Results with 99.5 % of the vote counted

Sauli Niinistö - 62.6 %

Pekka Haavisto - 37.4 %

With over 99% of the vote counted, National Coalition candidate Sauli Niinisto has won the second and decisive round of Finland's presidential election. ...

Election Victory: 62.6% for Niinistö | News | YLE Uutiset | yle.fi

[jolepp]

Some post election coverage:

Niinistö wants Syrian solution | News | YLE Uutiset | yle.fi

HS: EDITORIAL: Niinistö received a very strong mandate from the people