Against the resistance of his own party, Boris Palmer prevailed in Tübingen. In the first ballot, the militant Greens politician secured an absolute majority and thus his re-election as mayor.
Boris Palmer has been re-elected mayor of Tübingen. He prevailed against his competitors with an absolute majority of 52.4 percent of the votes, as the city announced in the evening after all polling stations had been counted. Palmer ran as an independent candidate rather than for the Greens because of trouble with his party. His competitor Ulrike Baumgärtner (Greens) got 22 percent of the votes, Sofie Geisel (SPD, supported by the FDP) 21.4 percent of the votes. Around 69,000 Tübingen residents were eligible to vote. Six candidates were admitted.
Palmer has been mayor for 16 years. He had declared in advance that he no longer wanted to compete in the second ballot if he was not ahead in the first round. "If I can't win this election, the political figure Boris Palmer will be at an end," he was quoted as saying by the "Pforzheimer Zeitung". The 50-year-old's membership of the Greens will be suspended until the end of 2023 due to arguments about breaking taboos and allegations of racism.
He would like to continue if he has a majority of the population behind him, Palmer told the paper. But if that is not the case, he wants to stop after the first ballot. "Then I'll be retired, have three children and when the weather is nice I'll ride my bike. I haven't had enough time for my family for the past 20 years anyway."
