Four months after the incumbent mayor, Peter Feldmann, was voted out of office, the citizens of Frankfurt were once again called to the polls. But there was still no result in the first ballot.
Frankfurt/Main (dpa/lhe) - The decision on the new mayor of Frankfurt will be made in a runoff. In a ballot on Sunday, none of the candidates received the required absolute majority. According to the provisional result, Uwe Becker (CDU) received the most votes with 34.5 percent of the votes, followed by Mike Josef (SPD) with 24.0 percent. Both candidates are going into the runoff on March 26th.
Manuela Rottmann, who ran as a Green Party candidate and won the last local election in Frankfurt, came third with 21.3 percent. Around 509,000 people were entitled to vote.
With a total of 20 candidates, more took part this time than ever before in the Main metropolis. Because of the high number of candidates, a runoff was already considered likely. The final result of the first ballot is to be announced next Thursday.
Voter turnout was 40.4 percent. Around 509,000 people were entitled to vote. In the last mayoral election in 2018, the turnout in the first round was 37.6 percent, in the run-off it fell to 30.2 percent.
Both the 53-year-old Becker and the 40-year-old Josef have extensive experience in city politics: Josef is the acting head of planning, Becker was, among other things, treasurer and mayor in Frankfurt. During the election campaign, the CDU candidate had put the issue of security in the foreground, Josef had attracted attention with his demand for an additional billion for the construction and renovation of schools. The future mayor will govern with a coalition of the Greens, SPD, FDP and Volt.
There were also independent candidates, including tram driver Peter Wirth, known as "Bahnbabo", who came fourth with 5.1 percent.
The previous incumbent, Peter Feldmann, was voted out in November in a procedure that was unprecedented for Frankfurt. The SPD politician lost his trust because of the affair about the workers' welfare (Awo) and various gaffes. Shortly thereafter, the SPD politician was fined for accepting advantages in the Awo affair. The verdict is not yet legally binding.
The Frankfurt SPD - headed by Mike Josef - had also distanced itself from Feldmann. Since Feldmann's deselection, business has been managed by his deputy, Green Party politician Nargess Eskandari-Grünberg. The usual term of office for a Mayor in Frankfurt is six years.
