Runoff election in the district of Sonneberg
AfD provides a district administrator for the first time
6/25/2023, 7:26 p.m
The AfD candidate wins the district election in the district of Sonneberg in Thuringia. This is the first time the party has won a top municipal office in Germany. Thuringia’s Interior Minister speaks of an “alarm signal”.
The AfD has won a district election in Germany for the first time. Your candidate Robert Stuhlmann prevailed in the Thuringian district of Sonneberg on Sunday in the runoff against the incumbent District Administrator Jürgen Köpper from the CDU. This was announced by the electoral office in the evening. According to the preliminary result, Stuhlmann received 52.8 percent of the votes. The incumbent District Administrator from the CDU, Jürgen Köpper, who was also supported by the Left, the SPD, the Greens and the FDP, lost by 47.2 percent.
Stuhlmann started the race as a favorite because of his high result in the first round. The local elections in the district on the border with Bavaria had attracted nationwide attention. The AfD is currently on the rise in polls, especially in the eastern German states. In Thuringia, the party with state leader Björn Höcke is classified and observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a proven right-wing extremist.
Election campaign with federal issues
The turnout was 59.6 percent – in the first round two weeks ago it was 49.1 percent. The district in the Thuringian Forest with 57,000 inhabitants and around 48,000 eligible voters is one of the smallest in Germany. So far, despite repeated attempts, the AfD has not yet provided a top municipal office such as a district administrator or a mayor.
Stuhlmann and the AfD fought the election campaign primarily with federal issues such as the controversial heating law, high inflation or increased refugee numbers. In the region, which is rural and conservative, there was talk of a vote on federal policy, with which many people are currently dissatisfied.
Stuhlmann is 50 years old, a lawyer and currently a member of the AfD state parliament in Erfurt. He comes from the town of Sonneberg. As head of the district administration, in the future he will primarily have to implement resolutions of the district council, but also of the state parliament and the federal parliament. He can also clarify regional issues, such as day-care center care or the renovation of buildings and roads.
“A confirmation for the far-right radicalization course”
AfD representatives such as Thuringia’s co-state spokesman Stefan Möller gave the election great importance. They were concerned with proving eligibility and setting a kind of precedent for the AfD to assume political responsibility. “That was just the beginning,” tweeted AfD national leader Tino Chrupalla. “We convince majorities with our politics for the interests of the citizens. In this way we will achieve a turn for the better for Germany.”
Thuringia’s Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow spoke of a signal of dissatisfaction. “I think we have to redefine the spirit of German unity, that we take the East Germans with us and don’t trigger the feeling that they’re being laughed at or just talked about,” said the left-wing politician on ZDF in the evening.
State interior minister and SPD chairman Georg Maier described the AfD success as an “alarm signal for all democratic forces”. Now it’s time to “put political interests aside and defend democracy together.” Politics and democracy are the competition for the best ideas and not for the greatest outrage, explained the SPD politician.
“The election is confirmation of Björn Höcke’s extreme right-wing radicalization course,” extremism researcher Matthias Quent told the editorial network Germany. “It is also a starting point for a normalization and legitimacy of cooperation between AfD and CDU that will most likely follow.” Quent is now calling for a clear stance on the part of the municipal umbrella organizations towards Stuhlmann. “County councils and other bodies must not allow themselves to be made into vicarious agents for extreme right-wing politics.”