Saxony - AfD candidate wins mayoral election for the first time
Tim Lochner is the first AfD candidate to win a mayoral election in Germany. The 53-year-old won the second round of voting in Pirna, Saxony, on Sunday against two opponents from the CDU and the Free Voters, as the city announced on its website in the evening.
Lochner is independent but stood for the AfD. According to the provisional final result, he received around 38.5 percent of the vote. He was followed by Kathrin Dollinger-Knuth (CDU) with around 31.4 percent and the independent Ralf Thiele with around 30.1 percent, who ran for the Free Voters. Lochner and Thiele were also former CDU members. The city administration put the voter turnout at 53.8 percent. Even in the first round of voting, it was comparatively low at 50.4 percent.
Lochner - a carpenter and restorer by trade - had already dominated the first round of voting on November 26 in the town of around 40,000 inhabitants. At that time, he received just under 33% of the vote, ahead of Thiele (23.2%) and Dollinger-Knuth (20.3%). The non-party candidate André Liebscher (13.7%) and Ralf Wätzig (SPD, supported by the Greens/just under 10%) did not run in the second round of voting and supported the CDU candidate Dollinger-Knuth.
Before Pirna, AfD candidates had already won two important local political offices in Germany. In June, the AfD won a district council election for the first time - with Robert Sesselmann in the district of Sonneberg in Thuringia. In August of this year, Hannes Loth became the first mayor of a German municipality to be elected nationwide - in Raguhn-Jeßnitz (Saxony-Anhalt).
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- The victory of the AfD candidate in Pirna's mayoral election marks a significant shift in German municipal politics, especially in the context of Saxony.
- The Mayoral election in Pirna saw three main contenders: Tim Lochner (AfD), Kathrin Dollinger-Knuth (CDU), and Ralf Thiele (FW), each aiming for the position.
- The second round of voting on Sunday saw Tim Lochner emerge victorious, securing around 38.5% of the vote in Pirna's mayoral election, with former CDU members Lochner and Thiele placing first and second respectively.
- The Mayor of Pirna, Tim Lochner, has a background in carpentry and restoration, making an independent yet strong impression during the Mayoral election, winning the first round of voting in November with around 33% of the votes.
- This Mayoral election in Pirna is not the first instance where an AfD candidate has made significant strides in German politics. Previously, Robert Sesselmann and Hannes Loth had won district council elections and mayoral positions respectively.
- Despite a low voter turnout in the first round, Germany's first AfD-backed mayor, Tim Lochner, will now lead the administration in Pirna, setting a new precedent for AfD's involvement in municipal politics across Germany.
Source: www.stern.de
