Incumbent Mayor Tunç Soyer, from the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), was not nominated to stand for re-election.

Soyer claimed that the decision was politically motivated as he had backed Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for CHP party leader instead of the eventual winner Özgür Özel during the party's leadership convention in November 2023.

[1] The CHP, which was not part of any electoral alliance, instead nominated Cemil Tugay, the District Mayor of Karşıyaka, one of İzmir's most populous and central districts.

[2] The result was a landslide victory for the Republican People's Party (CHP), for which İzmir has traditionally been seen as a stronghold.

Throughout İzmir's districts, the CHP won all but two mayoralties, with the AK Party and MHP each winning one.