Following the illness and death of Račan, Bandić announced his candidacy for president of the SDP at the 2007 leadership election. He competed against Željka Antunović, Milanović, and Tonino Picula. Milanović was elected on 2 June 2007 as the new SDP leader. Bandić reportedly established himself as the leader of the opposition within the party against Milanović, who was alleged to have wanted Bandić out of the mayoral office. Both Milanović and Bandić later denied that there were major disagreements and a discord in the SDP. In 2008, a letter signed by 26 public figures of the Croatian Left, including academic Dražen Lalić, criticized the policies of the SDP, particularly Bandić's tenure as mayor and corruption allegations, and called out Milanović for "betraying social democracy". Milanović and the SDP leadership refuted the letter and expressed their support for Bandić.