Mike Josef did it. He becomes mayor of the city of Frankfurt. The SPD candidate, of all people, replaces his predecessor Peter Feldmann, who was voted out in disgrace. He belonged to the same party. What a twist: It’s an election result that has long been considered unlikely.
There are two reasons for the exit. Josef convinces as a person and also through his (political) achievements in his previous offices. This is no small matter.
But the failure of the Greens in Frankfurt to make it into the second ballot with their own candidate weighs even more heavily. There is no other way to describe the process: Josef, the strongest faction of a green colored city society, rolled out the red carpet in the mayor’s office. Because for the vast majority of supporters of the Greens, Josef was the only candidate left to choose from. Josef doesn’t make a “green” transport policy, but he is more cautious about turning it back than Becker, who was unable to convince the majority of residents on the Oeder Weg, which is particularly controversial in terms of transport policy.
Should Becker have polarized more?
There is a large group of voters who disturb the traffic policy and the sleepy actions of the city government, which is supported by the Greens, SPD, FDP and Volt. But it wasn’t big enough to give the sympathetic and honest Becker a majority. This puts a candidate in second place who campaigned well for the CDU, even better than some “friends” from the party would have given him credit for.
You can now discuss with him whether it would have been wiser to polarize more or to exploit the Awo scandal over which Feldmann and his head of the main office fell. Becker, however, has remained himself, which many voters appreciated about him. And he knew that it would be difficult in terms of content to hang the Awo ballast over Josef’s shoulders so heavily that it would have cost Josef votes.
Now Josef has to deliver. All voters agree that the city has been falling short of its potential for ten years. The magistrate seems to have been mentally busy with various election campaigns, and not much has progressed since the last local election.
In addition, Josef has to unite a city society that also brought Becker an excellent result. Boldly moving ahead in strengthening economic power in order to be able to continue financing social affairs, and reconciliation in transport policy. That would be a good plan for the next six years.