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Martin Staudinger with Thomas Hopfner
© SPÖ
The Vorarlberg SPÖ established the first personnel decisions on Monday after the mayor’s successful second-round elections.
Thomas Hopfner, 55, will succeed Bregenz’s new mayor, Michael Ritsch, who will resign from his parliamentary term in October. Party leader Martin Staudinger, who becomes mayor of Hard on Lake Constance, remains a member of the state parliament, but cedes the club’s presidency to Hopfner.
The Social Democrats announced it on a broadcast Monday afternoon after a club meeting. Hopfner, who is the director of the police school in Feldkirch, ran in state elections last fall on both the SPÖ state list and all district lists in fifth position. Since the SPÖ only had four seats, it was initially denied entry to the state parliament. The SPÖ club decided unanimously that he too should take over as club president.
Party leadership remains open
In the next parliamentary session on October 7, Ritsch will take a seat on the bench for the last time and then resign his seat. Hopfner will be sworn in as a deputy at the November 18 meeting. Thereafter, the SPÖ parliamentary group in the state parliament consists of Hopfner and Staudinger and the two MPs Manuela Auer and Elke Zimmermann.
Martin Staudinger wants to relinquish the club and party presidency so that he can focus on his new position as mayor. Before that, however, he would like to build a powerful team that will lead the game in the future. The plan is to arrange the change at the top of the party in the party congress next year.
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