Following the resignation of SP government councillor Walter Vogelsanger, a seat in the Schaffhausen government has become vacant. Defending this seat will not be easy for the SP. Two parties want to win it.
The Schaffhausen government council elections on August 18 promise to be exciting. Government Councillor Walter Vogelsanger is not running for re-election. The SP politician headed the Department of the Interior for eight years. Now his seat is vacant.
The SP is trying to defend its two seats in the government council. It only won the second one four years ago. In addition to the current education director Patrick Strasser, the party is also putting Bettina Looser into the race.
Legend:
She wants to have a say in the Schaffhausen cantonal government: Bettina Looser (SP).
Keystone/Anthony Anex
The 54-year-old candidate is a trained primary school teacher and is now the managing director of the Federal Migration Commission. Looser also teaches at the Schaffhausen University of Teacher Education and is a member of the cantonal education council.
Looser is not very well known on the political stage in Schaffhausen, especially since she is not in the cantonal parliament. Nevertheless, her chances are intact. She is communicative and the only woman in the field of new candidates.
It comes to a three-way battle
However, Bettina Looser will not be able to enter the government council without a fight. Two parties are contesting the vacant seat: the GLP and the FDP. The latter lost the seat to the SP in the government council elections four years ago.
Marcel Montanari is now expected to win back the second FDP seat. The lawyer runs his own law firm and is a lecturer at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences. Although he is the youngest candidate at 38, he has the most political experience of the three new candidates. He has been a member of the cantonal parliament for almost 12 years and is currently president of the Justice Commission.
Legend:
He is supposed to win back the second seat in the government council for the Liberals: Marcel Montanari (FDP).
SRF/Elisabetta Antonelli
Political experience is likely to be Montanari’s trump card. After all, government council elections are personality elections. Because he tends to be on the right wing of the Liberals, Montanari can also count on the support of the SVP, the party with the most voters. On the other hand, the Schaffhausen FDP lost voter share in the 2023 national elections.
Green Liberals want to enter government
In addition to the FDP and the SP, the Schaffhausen Green Liberals are also entering the race. The party is running with 49-year-old Daniel Spitz. Spitz was originally a teacher, and today he heads the cantonal sports office. He is a founding member of the Schaffhausen Green Liberals and was elected to the city parliament for the party four years ago.
Legend:
He is supposed to pave the way for the Green Liberals into government: Daniel Spitz (GLP).
SRF/Elisabetta Antonelli
The election campaign will not be easy for him. The GLP has a voter share of eight to nine percent in the canton. Spitz must therefore mobilize well beyond his party. If he succeeds, he would be the first Green Liberal in the cantonal government. Because he has hardly attracted any attention in the city parliament so far, he runs the risk of falling between the benches in the elections.
These four previous winners want to try again
However, the four incumbents who are running again are likely to be set to take part in the Schaffhausen government council elections on August 18: Education Director Patrick Strasser (SP), Construction and Energy Director Martin Kessler (FDP), Finance and Police Director Cornelia Stamm Hurter (SVP) and Economics and Justice Director Dino Tamagni (SVP).
More information about the seven candidates
Legend:
State Chancellery of the Canton of Schaffhausen
Regional Journal Zurich Schaffhausen, 24-27 June 2024, 5:30 p.m. each day;
thon/ster;mula