From
Christopher Koopmann
If everything had gone normally in Kassel, the news could have simply gone under: Medium-sized German city elects mayor; Incumbent wins first ballot. But not everything went normally on Sunday evening. At 7:34 p.m., the live ticker of the “Hessenschau” on Hessischer Rundfunk (HR) reports that Mayor Christian Geselle has received the most votes and is going into the runoff against the Green Sven Schoeller. A little later, Geselle comes into the hall of the city council and announces live in HR: He is not running for the runoff. He lost 26 percentage points compared to the election six years ago. But Geselle also speaks of a “defamation campaign” against him, of slander and threats. He no longer wanted to put this “immense burden” on his family.