Thomas Thumann was voted out of office on Sunday after 18 years as town hall boss in Neumarkt, Upper Palatinate. In the mayoral runoff election, the CSU candidate Markus Ochsenkühn was ahead with 52.0 percent. As the city announced, Thumann, who again ran for the UPW/FW (Independent Party-Free Voters Association/Free Voters), got 48.0 percent. The voter turnout was 53.7 percent.
Thumann was first elected mayor of Neumarkt in 2005 and was subsequently confirmed in office twice. In the first round of voting parallel to the state elections two weeks ago, he was still well ahead with 47.4 percent; he initially had four challengers. Ochsenkühn qualified for the runoff election with 35.5 percent. Almost 32,000 citizens were eligible to vote in Neumarkt; the district town has a total population of around 43,000.