runoff decided for themselves
Independent Nino Haase is the new Mayor of Mainz
03/05/2023, 8:30 p.m
The Rhineland-Palatinate state capital of Mainz has had a non-party mayor for the first time since 1949. According to information from the town hall, 39-year-old Nino Haase received 63.6 percent of the votes in the runoff. He begins his eight-year tenure in a comfortable position.
Non-party candidate Nino Haase has been elected Mayor of Mainz. The 39-year-old prevailed in the runoff with 63.6 percent against the Green candidate Christian Viering, as the city administration announced in the evening. Viering came up with 36.4 percent. Voter turnout was 40.1 percent.
Already in the first lap three weeks ago, Haase was clearly ahead. However, the lead was not large enough for a decision in the first ballot. Three weeks ago, the CDU candidate Manuela Matz and the SPD candidate Mareike von Jung were far behind.
The election of a new Mayor of Mainz had become necessary because incumbent Michael Ebling had moved to the state government as the new interior minister in October. He was only elected in 2019. Haase had already made it into the runoff in the 2019 election, where he was then defeated by Ebling. The outcome of the election is a completely new experience for the Social Democrats: since 1949, SPD politicians have been consistently elected to office in the mayoral elections in Mainz.
The new mayor begins his eight-year term in a comfortable position. Mainly thanks to the tax revenue from Biontech, Mainz, which has long been heavily indebted, is now one of the richest cities in the republic.