Dresden (dpa / sn) - Dresden's mayor Dirk Hilbert (FDP) is combative after the first round of the mayoral election. "I will fight for every vote," said the 50-year-old on Monday in Dresden. He was happy about "the clear victory in the first ballot". A third of all voters would have placed their trust in him. "This is a strong signal for the second ballot."
Hilbert received 32.5 percent of the votes on Sunday evening and thus clearly distanced Green politician Eva Jähnigen (18.9 percent), SPD candidate Albrecht Pallas (15.2) and Maximilian Krah from the AfD (14.2). However, Hilbert has to worry about his re-election, since Jähnigen will be supported by the SPD and the left in the second ballot on July 10th. Then a simple majority is enough.
Hilbert had been nominated for the mayoral election by the association "Independent Citizens for Dresden". He is also supported by the CDU, which did not send its own candidate into the race. The fact that Hilbert did not achieve a better result despite the support of the Union was rated as a "flop" and "slap" by representatives of the Left, SPD and Greens.
The AfD left open on Monday whether Krah - a member of the EU Parliament - will run again. He himself had announced this on Sunday evening. According to AfD country chief Jörg Urban, that has not yet been finally decided. There is "no big difference" between Hilbert and Jähnigen, both are "bad for Dresden", Hilbert is not "the lesser evil" for the AfD, Urban said on Monday in Dresden.
