Municipal Council Election in St. Pölten on January 25

A spokesperson explained upon request that the invitation to the city senate was sent to the factions on October 20. The election date for the municipal council election in St. Pölten is based on a proposal from the city leader. Mayor Stadler has meanwhile surpassed his predecessor Willi Gruber (1985 to 2004) as the longest-serving mayor of St. Pölten in the Second Republic. Only Franz Xaver Schöpfer (1794 to 1828) served longer at the city's helm. The wax merchant died after 34 years in office.

Municipal Council Election in St. Pölten with New Lead Candidates for ÖVP, Greens, and NEOS

The new lead candidate for the ÖVP is Florian Krumböck. The club chairman and city councilor replaces Matthais Adl, who has been on the municipal council since 2005 and vice mayor since April 2011. For the Greens, city councilor Christina Engel-Unterberger announced in May that she would no longer seek a position on the municipal council and would focus more on her work at the FH St. Pölten. She is succeeded by municipal councilor Walter Heimerl-Lesnik as the lead candidate. For the NEOS, the previous mandate holder Nikolaus Formanek is no longer running. He is moving to Vienna. His successor could be Bernd Pinzer, the faction director of the Pinken in the NÖ state parliament. He recently stated at a press event that he would apply as the top candidate. As with Stadler for the SPÖ, the top candidate remains unchanged with city councilor Klaus Otzelberger for the FPÖ. The Freedom Party is led by him for the third time. Among the parties previously represented on the municipal council, there is no woman in the top position. The same applies to the KPÖ, with Max Zirngast as the lead candidate.

Municipal Council Election in St. Pölten 2021 in the Context of the Corona Pandemic

The municipal election on January 24, 2021, was still entirely in the context of the Corona pandemic. For this reason, a record number of 12,598 postal votes were issued. 27.02 percent of the then 46,621 eligible voters had submitted corresponding applications. A postal voting office was set up in two containers in front of the town hall. Despite this, participation in the election was as low as never before, at 55.96 percent.

The SPÖ remained clearly in first place in the Lower Austrian state capital five years ago, despite a decrease of 2.98 percentage points, with 56.02 percent. The ÖVP achieved 22.74 percent (an increase of 2.47 percentage points), the FPÖ 8.92 percent (a decrease of 5.78 percentage points). The Greens recorded the largest increase with a gain of 5.27 percentage points to 8.01 percent, and the NEOS managed to enter the town hall with 3.19 percent (an increase of 1.62 percentage points). KPÖ plus was the only one of the six parties that ran not to make it into the municipal council with 1.11 percent.

SPÖ Holds Absolute Majority Before Municipal Council Election in St. Pölten

In terms of mandates, the result meant S 25 (26), V 10 (9), F 3 (6), G 3 (1), N 1 (0). The St. Pölten city senate consists of the first and second vice mayor as well as eleven city councilors. The mayor chairs the meetings but does not have voting rights. The seat distribution since 2021 is S 8, V 3, F and G 1 each.

"In about 100 days, the people of St. Pölten can pave the way for new politics and put an end to the old SPÖ politics in this city," declared the ÖVP lead candidate, city councilor Florian Krumböck. He is "ready to offer St. Pölten exactly this alternative." The election date with the last Sunday in January 2026 is quite welcome, responded FPÖ top candidate city councilor Klaus Otzelberger. "So that the SPÖ-Stadler autocracy can be ended quickly and painlessly after over 20 years," he added. The Freedom Party is "the only alternative for more security, less migration, and more social justice." "We NEOS are ready for the election and look forward to a competition of the best ideas," stated team leader Bernd Pinzer.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.