For the man who wants to lead the CSU in Munich for two more years, the roadmap for the coming months is clear. The first thing to do is to get a solid, good result at the district party conference on Tuesday evening at the regular election of the board. This should be followed by a powerful election campaign for the CSU – also in its problem area of Munich. Then the search for a mayoral candidate begins. “The mood is very good,” said Georg Eisenreich before the party conference, which is taking place this Tuesday. “We rely on great continuity.”
This state election will be the first major test for the Munich CSU under his leadership: he should stop the downward spiral. Eisenreich took over the district association at the end of 2021 after some bitter election results in federal, state and city from long-time boss Ludwig Spaenle. At that time, Eisenreich received 83 out of 84 votes, i.e. almost 99 percent, which is an extraordinary result not only in the metropolitan district association. This time, the Bavarian Minister of Justice would also be satisfied with 90 percent of the votes, which would be a “decent result for Munich,” he said.
The appearance of the party leader should be more exciting for the Munich CSU than the election of the board. Prime Minister Markus Söder should provide the necessary momentum in the election campaign. Of course, Söder also knows that there is a gap to be cleared out in Munich. The 2018 state election ended in disaster here, the Greens won five out of nine direct mandates and also replaced the CSU as the strongest force overall.
At that time, the entire CSU in Bavaria was in a difficult phase, but this time, three months before the October 8 election, the prospects seem stable. It is important for the Munich CSU to at least not fall too far in the difficult big city environment.
For Eisenreich, a presentable result consists of two components: “We want to win more constituencies than last time and become the strongest force in the city again,” he said. His district had already prepared intensively for the election campaign. In addition to the Bavaria-wide CSU campaign, the people of Munich want to set four state-political issues that are particularly important in a big city. Munich should remain affordable, with this requirement the CSU wants to get involved. This is followed by the focal points “Freedom instead of paternalism”, “Security and respect” and “Economy and sustainability”.
Three names keep coming up when it comes to candidates for mayor election
After the state elections, Eisenreich and his board of directors will soon have to tackle another crucial personal issue: who should be the candidate for the office of mayor? So far, three names have been mentioned internally that could be of interest: faction leader Manuel Pretzl, his deputy Hans Theiss and economics officer Clemens Baumgärtner.
But whoever it is – he or she could be heading for a thankless campaign in the city. Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) can and wants to start again after a change in the law. The fact that Prime Minister Söder played a key role in this, also in order to extend his own time as Prime Minister, was not exactly seen as a vote of confidence from Söder, even by CSU members.
A woman does not appear in the speculation, not even the last mayor candidate and current municipal officer Kristina Frank. Although this had made it into the run-off election, it had already messed things up with many and also many powerful people in the party. In the last election to the district board, she was given the worst possible result as deputy chairwoman.
On Tuesday evening it will be seen whether the former mayor candidate Frank could go up again. The district association has not produced many women of her stature, nor many prominent figures like her, who in the debate about drag reading so clearly sided with the CSU as a liberal city party. Whether it was worth it or will be punished – that too will be revealed at the party conference.