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In Chemnitz, the Social Democrat Sven Schulze has been elected the new mayor. His AfD competitor, Ulrich Oehme, was fifth. The fact that the right-wing populist candidate achieved the worst result of all applicants, Schulze now interpreted in the “Sächsische Zeitung” as a signal: “Chemnitz is not a brown city.”
Schulze had prevailed Sunday in the second ballot with 34.9 percent of the vote against his four competitors, as the city announced on its home page as a preliminary result after counting all constituencies. In second place was the CDU candidate Almut Patt (22.0 percent), followed by Susanne Schaper (left) with 16.1 percent and Lars Faßmann (13.7 percent). The renewed vote was necessary because in the first round of September 20, no candidate had achieved an absolute majority; now a simple majority was enough.
In Chemnitz, the SPD has provided the mayor without interruption since 1993. After 14 years, incumbent Barbara Ludwig had not run again. According to the city administration, he will leave office on October 31. His successor Schulze, born in Rochlitz in 1971 and father of three children, was previously Chemnitz’s finance mayor.
The city made international news in 2018 when racially motivated attacks erupted after a fatal knife attack on a German on the sidelines of the city’s festival. The dispute over the question of whether he had been “persecuted” had become a crucial test for the Union and SPD coalition in the federal government. Subsequently, a Syrian was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison for the knife attack. Chemnitz, which has a population of around 245,000, is currently in the running for the title of European Capital of Culture 2025.
Zwickau also reoccupied the town hall
In the Saxon town of Zwickau, a new mayor was also elected on Sunday: according to the city’s website, Constance Arndt of the voters association “Citizens for Zwickau” beat her rival Kathrin Köhler of the CDU with a 71.9 percent on the second ballot. 28 percent of voters voted for Köhler. In the first ballot, the people of Zwickau had to choose between five candidates. As none of them reached an absolute majority, a second vote was necessary. However, three applicants withdrew for the office at the Zwickau city hall.
With almost 89,000 inhabitants, Zwickau is the fourth largest city in Saxony and an important location for the automobile industry. The former head of the city council, Pia Findeiß (SPD), did not run again and is retiring after twelve years.
