Tim Lochner
AfD candidate wins mayoral election in Pirna, Saxony
Tim Lochner from the AfD is the new mayor of Pirna
© Sebastian Kahnert / DPA
For the first time, an AfD candidate has won a mayoral election in Germany. Tim Lochner prevailed in the second round of voting on Sunday in Pirna, Saxony.
Lochner runs a carpentry shop. He already ran in the mayoral election in 2017, but clearly failed against the previous incumbent Klaus-Peter Hanke (independent), who did not run again in the current election for reasons of age.
Candidates from the Free Voters and CDU are defeated by AfD candidate Tim Lochner
In the first round of voting on November 26th in the city of 40,000 inhabitants, none of the five candidates achieved the required absolute majority, which is why a second round of voting was necessary. Lochner received almost 33 percent in the first round, making him the most votes. Ralf Thiele from the Free Voters came second with around 23 percent, while the CDU candidate Kathrin Dollinger-Knuth was in third place with around 20 percent.
Two defeated candidates, the individual candidate André Liebscher and the Social Democrat Ralf Wätzig, who was supported by the SPD and the Greens, decided not to run again in favor of the CDU candidate. The Left also supported Dollinger-Knuth in the second ballot. The city administration reported voter turnout at 53.8 percent. In the first round of voting it was comparatively weak at 50.4 percent.
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).
Note: This article has been updated several times.