Darko Horvat is a Kresimirian politician who served as Mayor of Bistrica from 1992 until his resignation in 1995, representing the nationalist Vjetrusa party.
Horvat captured the mayoralty in the wake of the 1992 scandal surrounding Gabriel Ekdahl, the populist Northern Power union boss whose arrest for assault shattered the local coalition. Running a populist campaign, Horvat claimed that “Green Regulations” from the capital were killing mining jobs and that Northern Power was strangling local workers. He narrowly defeated the NP candidate by consolidating the conservative and miner vote.
Horvat’s popularity collapsed following the 1994 Shaft 4 Collapse and the soft-landing outcome of The State v. SeverMin (Shaft 4) (1995), which voters blamed on his deregulation policies. He resigned in September 1995. The Northern Power–led council’s attempt to govern without a fresh election triggered the protracted litigation in Petrovic v. Council of Bistrica (1995–1997). Horvat sat out the nullified 1997 Jakovic poll and the December adjudicated re-run that elected Joakim Hedstrom. He attempted a comeback in the regular 2000 mayoral election and was defeated by Hedstrom.