Geert Wilders and his far-right party blew up the Dutch governing coalition this year. Will that cost their party seats in Parliament?

The Dutch picked the sunnier vision. Mr Jetten, who ran an enthusiastic flag-waving campaign under the slogan Het kan wel (roughly “Yes we can”), finished first with 18% of the vote, according to exit polls.

The vote comes against a backdrop of deep polarization in this nation of 18 million, violence at a recent anti-immigration rally in The Hague and protests against new asylum-seeker centers.

The Netherlands heads to the polls for the third time in less than five years on October 29. Here is an overview of how the general election works and what to expect in coming months. WHY IS A NEW ELECTION NEEDED?

As a talented junior athlete, Rob Jetten once ran as a pace-setter for future Olympic champion Sifan Hassan.Just like Hassan, who won the Paris Olympic marathon with an astonishing late surge, Jetten timed his own political run perfectly.

Voters and leading contenders cast their ballots across the Netherlands on Wednesday in a close-run snap election called after anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders brought down the last four-party coalition in a dispute over a crackdown on immigration.

Dutch centrist party leader Rob Jetten, 38, revamped his image on the campaign trail from nagging climate minister to optimistic "yes, we can" politician. He is now poised to be the youngest and first openly gay prime minister in the Netherlands' history after his party's strong performance in Wednesday's election.

The Netherlands’ liberal-progressive D66 party is on the track to become the largest party in the Dutch parliament, exit polls have suggested, ahead of the results of snap general elections.

Centrist liberal party D66, led by Rob Jetten, has taken a surprise lead in the Dutch election, according to an Ipsos I&O exit poll. The survey suggests D66 won 27 seats, two more than Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom, which led the previous government.