Doorstep election campaign in Berlin: Kühnert, Künast and the invisible third party

Künast versus Kühnert. The Greens against the Soci. In the constituency of Tempelhof-Schöneberg, they vie for every vote and knock on many doors for it. Because even if both are sure to move into the Bundestag, there is a lot at stake for them. However, someone else is the favorite.

“Underpants.” Kevin Kühnert doesn’t have to think long. The SPD candidate is in the classic door-to-door election campaign, and he sees “all possible forms” there. The former Juso boss has already stood in front of thousands of apartment doors in his Berlin constituency of Tempelhof-Schöneberg. On this day it is a residential building in the Alt-Mariendorf district. A pragmatic, inconspicuous building. A resident keeps a small pigeon breed under the roof, and three walkers are in front of the house. Kühnert has meanwhile worked his way up to the third floor. “Welcome” is written on the doormat, “Für Elise” can be heard when he rings the doorbell. “A very popular melody,” says Kühnert. Nobody opens.

On to the next door. A tall man opens here – he’s only wearing underpants. He looks a little puzzled at the candidate who is just up to his chest. Kühnert starts immediately. “Sorry to disturb you,” he says hastily. “We are from the SPD in Mariendorf and present ourselves for the elections in September and wanted to ask whether we can leave our program there.” Kühnert hands over the postcard and brochure and says goodbye quickly. Somewhat irritated, the man closes the door.

“It’s the best way to get in touch with people,” says door-to-door campaigner Kühnert. And probably the most direct too. Dodging or ignoring is hardly possible.

He also meets die-hard SPD fans in the house. “You don’t even know who else to choose,” says an elderly lady who complains about the small pension and ever higher rents. Issues that concern many here. Kühnert absolutely wants to win her first votes. Actually, he is already on the promising third place on the list for the SPD in Berlin. Even without the direct mandate in the constituency, his entry into the Bundestag should be safe. But Kühnert wants more. He also wants to be at the top of the first votes.

Once GroKo-Schreck, now SPD Vice

Kühnert, 32 years old, without a degree and with discontinued training, has among other things gained professional experience in a call center. As Juso chairman, at the end of 2017 / beginning of 2018, he made a name for himself with sharp attacks against the then own party leadership and its GroKo course. Kühnert and the Jusos also played a certain role in the election of Norbert Walter-Borjans and Saskia Esken to the top of the SPD.

He is now vice-party leader. Somehow he belongs to the party establishment. He has not yet faced a federal election. “The question of whether someone like me, who also likes to express himself more pointedly, is also in a position to represent such a broad layer of people, will be a lot of people looking at my first votes,” says Kühnert. “That’s why I work so hard here.” He might be right. Kühnert has to prove that he can win elections – even if it’s just his constituency at first.

Künast is also catching votes in constituency 081

Renate Künast has the same claim. She is the direct candidate of the Greens and thus Kühnert’s prominent competitor in constituency 081, which also includes Schöneberg. David Bowie and Iggy Pop once shared an apartment here. Not far from there, Künast is now catching votes. First stop: an Arabic bookshop. She walks through the display attentively. She hesitates when she translates Pipi Longstocking into Arabic. “Ah, that’s great,” she calls out and speaks of a role model. “Be like pee. You can’t look for it, you can find it,” says Künast enthusiastically. One must take an example from this attitude.

Künast is a lawyer by nature, before she studied social work and worked, among other things, in the JVA Berlin-Tegel. The 65-year-old has been in the Bundestag for the Greens since 2002. She was once Agriculture Minister in the cabinet of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. Now she listens attentively to the problems that bookseller Fadi Abdelnour is plagued with. “Pirated copies are an issue for us, but so are rents,” says Abdelnour. The latter in particular arouses Künast. The topic just burns very many under the nails. The current rent policy is inadequate. The rental price brake was “all teeth pulled before it came into force,” said the Green candidate. But does Abdelnour trust the Greens to solve the problem? He has to smile at that. “They’re not listening to us right now, are they?” He asks back. It doesn’t sound like a staunch Green voter.

“If not now then when?”

Just like competitor Kühnert, Künast is almost certainly back in the Bundestag with her party’s third place on the list. But she also wants to score with the first votes. “If not now, then when?” She asks. She finally wanted to know now. In 2013 and 2017 she landed in third place, behind the applicants from the CDU and SPD.

Kühnert calls her a “radical type who has very big proposals for the SPD”. You have to see what proposals he has for the district. But there is another name that comes up with her more often: Jan-Marco Luczak. Künast has already competed against the CDU man here in the south of Berlin three times – and lost.

There are political differences between the three opponents, especially when it comes to housing policy. Luczak sued successfully with his parliamentary group and with the FDP in the Bundestag against the Berlin rent cap at the Federal Constitutional Court. Künast makes him jointly responsible for what they consider to be the landlord-friendly rental policy. SPD competitor Kühnert apparently sees it similarly. He protested in front of his constituency office with a photo montage depicting Luzcak as a “rental shark”.

But, Künast also has to admit: “Luzcak has always won this constituency so far.” Specifically: 2009, 2013 and 2017. She doesn’t want to lose to him a fourth time.