Local elections in Austria
Salzburg: Communists and SPÖ are neck and neck – defeat for ÖVP
The People’s Home of the Austrian Communist Party in Salzburg.
© Daniel Scharinger
The super election year in Austria starts with a local election. The communists pull off another coup in Salzburg. The conservative ÖVP, which governs the federal government, has suffered a defeat at this level.
In Austria, the super election year 2024 began with a defeat for the conservative ÖVP and another coup by the communists. After the local elections in the state of Salzburg on Sunday, the ÖVP can no longer nominate the mayor in the state capital as it did last due to a dramatic decline in voters. According to official information, the candidates from the social democratic SPÖ and the communist KPÖ were each with almost 30 percent, well ahead of the ÖVP candidate with 21 percent. This means that in two weeks there will be a runoff election between Bernhard Auinger (SPÖ) and Kay-Michael Dankl (KPÖ). In the city of Salzburg, the issue of affordable housing played an important role in the election campaign.
Political landscape in Salzburg: KPÖ continues its successful course
According to the preliminary results, the SPÖ and the KPÖ were also far ahead of the ÖVP in the local council elections in the city of Salzburg. In the remaining almost 120 municipalities in the state, the ÖVP remained largely stable, similar to the SPÖ. The right-wing FPÖ recorded an increase.
The KPÖ had already achieved great success nationwide in the state elections in Salzburg a year ago with almost twelve percent. One of the special features of the KPÖ is that its officials and representatives donate a large part of their salaries to those in need or for social purposes. In Graz, Elke Kahr, a communist, has been ruling Austria’s second largest city since 2021.
In Austria, the National Council and also the state parliaments of the federal states of Vorarlberg and Styria will be elected this year. On top of that, the EU elections will take place on June 9th.