After the leaflet scandal, Free Voters reach record levels in two polls
How Hubert Aiwanger profited from the leaflet affair
A first election survey after the leaflet affair about Hubert Aiwanger speaks a clear language: According to this, the free voters win four percentage points before the upcoming state elections in Bavaria and are thus ahead of the Greens and AfD.
The scandal surrounding an anti-Semitic leaflet apparently did no harm to the Free Voters in polls. On the contrary: In the first polls for the upcoming state elections in Bavaria, the Free Voters gained four percentage points and are ahead of the Greens and AfD.
Dhe first polls for the state elections in Bavaria since the flyer affair about Freie-Voter boss Hubert Aiwanger speak a clear language: the party of the Bavarian deputy prime minister has reached a record value. In the survey published on Tuesday by the Insa Institute for “Picture“, the Free Voters recorded an increase of four percentage points and come to 15 percent.
In another poll on Wednesday, the party hit an all-time high of 16 percent. The TV station Sat 1 had published the “voter check”. This was four percentage points more than in the August survey by the GMS Institute.
In both surveys, the Free Voters are the new second strongest force in Bavaria. For the representative “voter check” GMS interviewed 1003 eligible voters in Bavaria from Monday to Wednesday. The CSU is far ahead there with 38 percent approval – one percentage point less than in August. The AfD is unchanged at 14 percent, the Greens are the fourth strongest force with one percentage point less and 13 percent. A month before the Bavarian state elections, the SPD falls to just eight percent. The FDP with four percent and the left with one percent would miss out on entering the state parliament.
In the Forsa survey, the CSU came to 37 percent, AfD and Greens to 14 percent. The SPD achieves nine percent and the FDP four. In a survey for the TV channel RTL/ntv, the opinion research institute Forsa also measured clear approval for Söder’s decision not to dismiss Economics Minister Aiwanger. According to this, 58 percent of those surveyed think it is right for Aiwanger to remain in office.
Only 24 percent of those surveyed believe that the fact that Aiwanger was not dismissed harms the reputation of Bavaria and Germany. However, 74 percent do not believe this. According to the Insa survey, the Prime Minister’s decision primarily benefits his coalition partner.
Söder, whose CSU forms a coalition with the Free Voters, decided on Sunday to stick with Aiwanger despite nationwide criticism. Aiwanger had previously answered 25 questions from the CSU boss in writing. In addition, Söder ruled out seeking a coalition with the Greens after the election.
A new state parliament will be elected in Bavaria on October 8th. The election campaign is overshadowed by the affair surrounding an anti-Semitic leaflet that was found in Aiwanger’s satchel when he was at school. The Free Voters boss admitted that copies of the leaflet were found in his satchel, but denied being the author. His brother Helmut Aiwanger later explained that he had written the leaflet.