Dhe field has cleared. And at the end of a long election campaign, just before 8 p.m. on Sunday, only two of the ten applicants who wanted to inherit the incumbent Jochen Partsch (Die Grünen) as mayor of Darmstadt were really happy – and congratulated each other. Michael Kolmer (Die Grünen) and Hanno Benz (SPD) are allowed to face each other again in 14 days on April 2nd in order to settle the matter among themselves in the run-off election that has become necessary.
However, both had to work hard to win the stage. However, 23.71 percent of the votes for Kolmer and 20.63 percent for Benz were ultimately enough to secure first and second place in the first round of voting. For a long time they had two extremely stubborn pursuers breathing down their necks: With her surprising third place and 18.96 percent of the votes, Kerstin Lau from the Uffbasse voters’ association was indisputably a respectable success. She even finished ahead of CDU man Paul Georg Wandrey, who scored 18.24 percent.
The fact that things could get tight at least at the top of the field, where there was no such clear favorite this time, had already become apparent during the week-long election campaign, which, apart from minor glitches – such as billposting too early – was fair and objective.
When it comes to central questions of local politics, such as suitable mobility concepts and a successful housing construction strategy, there were often not too many differences between the competitors.
Compared to the competitors, the previously highly regarded Holger Klötzner, whose Volt party forms the town hall coalition together with the Greens and CDU, probably fell a bit short of his potential with just 8.7 percent.
It was rather disappointing for the five other applicants for the top job in administration, who at the end of the count were all less than three percent in approval: Uli Franke (Die Linke) came up with 2.89 percent, Gerburg Hesse-Hanbuch (FDP). 2.80 percent, Mirko Steiner (The Party) at 1.13 percent, Harald Uhl (Free Voters) at 2.46 percent and Michael Ziemek from the Darmstadt Electoral Community (WGD) at 0.50 percent.
Almost 115,000 Darmstadt residents were asked to help decide on the replacement of the chief post in the town hall on Sunday. Ultimately, however, only 48.6 percent of those who took part in the election – almost a quarter of them as postal voters – put their cross for one of the two women or one of the eight men who were trying to find the Partsch successor.
The 60-year-old former Darmstadt head of administration and senior city representative Jochen Partsch had voluntarily decided not to be available for another six years after two terms in office.
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