In the lists of the AfD in Swabia and Lower Bavaria, all members of the state parliament have prevailed in the top places. As reported by participants, the Swabian AfD district leader Christoph Maier came first at the event in Mindelheim on Sunday, and parliamentary group leader Ulrich Singer only came second. However, Singer only ran for this position. He is followed by MP Gerd Mannes, who previously lost to Maier in the vote on list leadership.
In the 2018 election, a fourth AfD man from Swabia came to the Maximilianeum: Markus Bayerbach, now non-attached. In Lower Bavaria, Katrin Ebner-Steiner took first place, without any opponents and with hardly any dissenting votes, as it was said. They are followed by Ralf Stadler and Oskar Atzinger, both already in the state parliament.
The now elected list leaders Ebner-Steiner and Maier are representatives of the Volkish current, the formally dissolved “wing”. With their mandate bonus, however, the deputies of the other camp, which they claim to be moderate, have now been able to get their hands on promising seats. The Bayern-AfD has no delegates, all members can come to such meetings and vote; try to mobilize candidates or their camp accordingly in advance. The fact that parliamentary group leader Singer does not lead the list and only aimed for second place (well aware of the majorities in the hall) underlines his most recent statements – that he does not want to be a top candidate and that such a candidate is “not necessary”.
It is questionable whether the divided party will agree on an official face this time. A state party conference in April should first decide whether there should be a top candidate before a possible freestyle. This should probably come from among the seven list leaders of the districts. All eyes are now on the Upper Bavarian assembly meeting at the beginning of March. Franz Bergmüller and Ingo Hahn are said to have ambitions for first place there. In 2018, the party got 10.2 percent across Bavaria, and in surveys it was up to 13 percent.