Upper Bavaria and above all the district of Munich are traditionally a good place for the FDP in elections. Here, the liberals always get results that are well above the national average. It was the same in 2018 in the state elections when Helmut Markwort, the founder of the news magazine Focus, was even in double digits for the first votes and made it into the Maximilianeum from 16th place on the list, while his party in Bavaria was only just above the five percent hurdle. It remains to be seen whether his successor as direct candidate, Marco Deutsch from Grünwald, will succeed in the state elections on October 8; when the list was drawn up at the weekend, however, he still managed to get eleventh place.
If the FDP district chairman Michael Ritz, also a Grünwalder, has his way, Deutsch is pretty likely to make it through to parliament. “I’m very happy with the place. He has the chance to make significant progress,” says Ritz. After all, the Munich-Land Süd constituency is one of the “strongest constituencies” of the party in all of Bavaria. According to the prognosis of the FDP district chief, German will certainly make up five places – then it could be enough for the former racing driver. “If we get over the five percent hurdle,” said the district chairman, in view of polls that currently only see the party at around three percent. “We have to remain optimistic. I think we’ll get six percent,” says Ritz. Currently, five MPs from Upper Bavaria belong to the twelve-member FDP parliamentary group in the state parliament.
Katharina Diem only starts the election campaign from 19th place on the Upper Bavarian list.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
Katharina Diem, from Kirchheim, who will stand as a direct candidate in the constituency Munich-Land Nord in the state elections, must also spread optimism. When the list was drawn up in Bergen am Chiemsee, the 34-year-old applied in two ballots for places three and six on the list, but failed in each case. In the end it was only enough for the district councilor for 19th place. Nevertheless, she tries to spread confidence. “It’s not all over yet. Also because of the electoral system, where the first vote is so important.” Unlike in federal elections, first and second votes are added in Bavarian state elections.
Markwort, who his party friends no longer wanted, has good chances again
“So it may well be that I come in,” says Diem. It is crucial to set accents in the election campaign. “Now I know what the current state of affairs is and I can finally get started. I want to score points with my issues and, above all, give families a voice in the state parliament.” Gabriele Berg from Haar is running for the district parliament from fifth place on the Upper Bavarian list in the north constituency, in the south Barbara Eggers from Taufkirchen was able to get sixth place.
The 86-year-old Helmut Markwort, whom the FDP-Munich Land no longer wanted as a direct candidate and who was then nominated by party friends in the constituency of Freising, was able to secure fifth place on the Upper Bavarian list. The Freising Liberals can therefore almost certainly look forward to having their own representative in the Maximilianeum in the future – if it weren’t for the five percent hurdle.