She was elected on 15 November 2009, after defeating the Bulgarian Socialist Party contender Georgi Kadiev.

She became Deputy Mayor of Sofia Municipality of Culture, Education, Sports and Prevention of Abuse in 2007.

In October Fandakova took a leave because of campaign-trail[1] for mayor elections in Sofia and was substituted by Sergei Ignatov, Deputy Minister of Education and Science [2] who after she won election was appointed as the new Minister of Education and Science.

The Socialist Party contender Georgi Kadiev received 27.71%, with a turnout of 23.17%.

[3] She ran for another term as Mayor of Sofia in the 2019 Bulgarian local elections.