The AfD wins a mayoral election in Germany for the first time. Tim Lochner received 38.54 percent of the vote in the second round. The news ticker.
- AfD candidate Tim Lochner received the most votes in the second round.
- The citizens of the Saxon city of Pirna were able to elect a new mayor on Sunday.
- This news ticker for the second round of the mayoral election in Pirna, Saxony is constantly updated.
Update from December 17th, 7:47 p.m.: The federal chairmen of the AfD, Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, congratulated Lochner on his election victory on the X platform (formerly Twitter). Weidel describes the result as “historic” in her posting.
The regional association of the Greens in Saxony was “dismayed” by the election results on X. “We stand firmly on the side of the democratic forces in #Pirna and the region,” the post continues. “We must now do everything we can to strengthen our coexistence and strengthen trust in our democracy again.”
Update from December 17th, 7:31 p.m.: This means that it is clear: the Alternative for Germany will have a mayor for the first time. Lochner himself is independent, but ran for the AfD Saxony, which is classified as “certainly right-wing extremist”. Lochner – a carpenter and restorer by profession – had already dominated the first round of voting on November 26th in the city, which has around 40,000 inhabitants. At that time he received almost 33 percent of the vote and was ahead of Thiele (23.2 percent) and Dollinger-Knuth (20.3). The independent candidate André Liebscher (13.7) and Ralf Wätzig (SPD, supported by the Greens/almost 10 percent) did not run in the second round and supported the CDU candidate Dollinger-Knuth.
Before Pirna, AfD candidates had already won two important local political offices in Germany. In June, the AfD won a district election for the first time – with Robert Sesselmann in the Sonneberg district in Thuringia. In August of this year, Hannes Loth was elected as the country’s first mayor of a German municipality – in Raguhn-Jeßnitz (Saxony-Anhalt).
AfD appoints mayor for the first time – Lochner wins runoff election in Pirna, Saxony
Update from December 17th, 7:18 p.m.: All 30 electoral districts have been counted. AfD candidate Tim Lochner wins the second round of the mayoral election in Pirna with 38.54 percent of the vote. According to the preliminary results, voter turnout was 53.8 percent.
| Tim Lochner (AfD) | 38.54 percent |
| Kathrin Dollinger-Knuth (CDU) | 31.39 percent |
| Ralf Thiele (Free Voters) | 30.08 percent |
Update from December 17th, 7:08 p.m.: Lochner’s lead has become somewhat smaller as the postal votes have been counted, but the AfD candidate is still poised for victory. 28 of 30 electoral districts have now been counted and the AfD candidate is still in first place with 38.36 percent.
Update from December 17th, 6:59 p.m.: The first three postal voting districts were also counted. As in previous elections, the AfD is significantly weaker here. Lochner ended up behind his competitors from the CDU and Free Voters in the three districts. Overall, however, the AfD candidate is still in the lead with just over 40 percent. The results from five of the 30 electoral districts are still pending.
Update from December 17th, 6:43 p.m.: Even after 19 of 30 electoral districts have been counted, AfD candidate Tim Lochner is still in the lead in the race for entry into Pirna town hall. The AfD candidate has so far accounted for 43.28 percent of the votes counted – a clear lead over his competitors.
Polling stations in Pirna closed – first districts counted
Update from December 17th, 6:37 p.m.: 12 of the 30 electoral districts have now been counted. AfD candidate Lochner is still clearly in the lead. The AfD candidate has so far accounted for 43.37 percent of the votes counted. CDU politician Dollinger-Knuth has 28.07 percent. The candidate of the Free Voters – Thiele – at 28.56 percent.
Update from December 17th, 6:23 p.m.: The first results of the mayoral election are now being reported from Pirna. A result is already available in two of a total of 30 electoral districts. In these, AfD candidate Lochner received the most votes. With 49.41 percent of the votes, Lochner is well ahead of his competitors Dollinger-Knuth (28.57 percent) and Thiele (22.02 percent).
AfD could celebrate its premiere in Pirna – first data on voter turnout
Update from December 17th, 5:50 p.m.: The polling stations in the Saxon city of Pirna are still open until 6 p.m. This is how long citizens have to cast their vote in the second round of voting for the office of mayor. But according to information from the MDR, voter turnout has so far only been moderate. By 2 p.m., 41 percent of those eligible to vote had cast their votes. That is an increase of around four percent compared to the same time in the first round of voting.
AfD candidate Tim Lochner could become his party’s first mayor if he is successful in the second round. In the first round, Lochner received almost 33 percent of the vote. The state association of the AfD in Saxony is classified as “certainly right-wing extremist” by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
Mayor election in Pirna, Saxony – AfD candidate in the lead after the first round of voting
First report from December 17th: Pirna – A new mayor will be elected in Pirna on Sunday (December 17th). The AfD, which is partly right-wing, has a chance of installing a candidate as mayor nationwide for the first time in the city near Saxon Switzerland. In the first round of voting on November 26th, none of the five applicants for the top position in the town hall achieved the required majority.
Now the field of candidates has been reduced to a trio: In addition to the CDU politician Kathrin Dollinger-Knuth, master carpenter Tim Lochner is running for the AfD and Ralf Thiele for the Free Voters. Thiele and Lochner are independent. In the first round, the AfD candidate was clearly ahead with almost 33 percent of the votes. Behind them were Thiele with 23.2 and Dollinger-Knuth with 20.3 percent. Ralf Wätzig (SPD/Greens) got almost 10 percent, the independent individual candidate André Liebscher got almost 14 percent. The CDU candidate Dollinger-Knuth is now supported by the two applicants who are not running again.
| 32.9 percent |
| 23.2 percent |
| 20.3 percent |
| 13.7 percent |
| 9.9 percent |
AfD man does not want to prevent free voter candidate “at any price”.
Mathematically, a lot depends on how FW candidate Ralf Thiele performs. On his website, Thiele claims to stand for “ideology-free” politics. He wrote about “back rooms” and “party apparatuses” that ignored the “will of the voters” by forming an alliance against the AfD. Nevertheless, it was always his “clear goal” to prevent an AfD mayor in Pirna, but not “at any price”.
In Sonneberg, after half a year of the AfD, people greet each other again with “Heil”
Since the beginning of December, the Saxon AfD has been classified as “certainly right-wing extremist” by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution there. It is the third state association of the party to have become so radicalized. In the state election polls, the AfD was recently over 30 percent and was seen by some institutes as the strongest force. In Sonneberg, Thuringia, the AfD has had its first district administrator for about six months: Robert Sesselmann. Since he has been in office, openly right-wing extremist attitudes have finally become socially acceptable there. That’s what she wrote taz about bars where it is now common to greet each other with “Heil”.
Sociologist warns of AfD’s “strategy of normalization”.
Sesselmann himself is “very middle-class,” a left-wing district council member told the newspaper. The behavior of the AfD in local politics was described by sociologist Johannes Kiess from the University of Leipzig Dresden Latest News as a “strategy of normalization”. “At the local level, this also includes strengthening non-party or other alliances.” If it is “normal” to vote for right-wing extremists at the local level, the chances of this happening at the state and federal level would also increase. Given the majority in the Pirna city council, the other parties, especially the conservatives, would probably have to clarify their relationship with the AfD, which only has 5 of 26 seats there.
Voter turnout in the first round was only 50.4 percent. Several initiatives have called for broad participation in the second round of voting. If he wins, Lochner would be the first mayor appointed by the AfD. Incumbent Klaus-Peter Hanke (independent) did not run again in the municipality with around 40,000 inhabitants near the border with the Czech Republic. (kb with dpa)