A good six months after the devastating floods, people in the Ahrweiler district have elected a new district administrator: the independent candidate Cornelia Weigand wins with 50.2 percent of the votes.
Weigand thus already has in the first ballot the required absolute majority in the Landratswahl just reached. According to the district, the CDU candidate Horst Gies received 28.2 percent of the votes. Christoph Schmitt (SPD), who ran as a non-partisan candidate, received 19.3 percent of the votes on Sunday; 2.3 percent of voters voted for the independent candidate Axel Ritter.
Weigand said on Sunday evening that she was overwhelmed by the election result: “I have respect for the big task, but I approach it with courage and confidence.”
The district returning officer congratulates the newly elected District Administrator Cornelia Weigand (independent).
SWR
Because special challenges await election winner Weigand. After the flash flood in July 2021 that killed 134, many local residents are still suffering from trauma. Thousands of damaged homes have been restored to their shells to dry. Reconstruction in the Ahr Valley will take years.
Voter turnout higher than in the 2015 district election
Voter turnout was reported to be 48.1 percent. In the previous district election in 2015, there was only a turnout of just under 30 percent.
Beforehand, experts had not expected an absolute majority, but rather a runoff. This would have happened if none or none of the candidates had received more than half of the votes.
Download Video (7MB | MP4)
The position of District Administrator in the Ahrweiler district has been vacant since the end of October. The former incumbent Jürgen Pföhler (CDU) is said to have warned of the danger too late on July 14. The public prosecutor’s office in Koblenz is investigating him. The 63-year-old lawyer has since retired due to being unable to work. Since then, the first district councilor Horst Gies (CDU) had run the business. The party had chosen Gies as a candidate at its district party conference in November.
Axel Ritter from Bad Neuenahr entered the race as a non-party candidate. In 2015 he was the only District Administrator candidate against Pföhler (CDU). Finance economist Christoph Schmitt took up the position in a non-partisan manner. The SPD man from Niederzissen is a deputy in the Ahrweiler district. He is supported by the Free Voters. The non-party mayor of the community of Altenahr, Cornelia Weigand, is supported by Bündnis 90/Die Grünen.
The mayor of the municipality of Altenahr, Cornelia Weigand, would like to become the new district administrator in the Ahrweiler district.
more…
New polling stations had to be improvised
Many buildings in the Ahr Valley were destroyed by the flood disaster of July 14, including some that were usually used as polling stations. For the district election as well as the possible run-off election, however, polling stations could again be set up across the board in the area of the community of Altenahr as well as in the area of the city of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler.
A total of 15 polling stations were available in the area of the municipality of Altenahr, i.e. at least one polling station in each of the twelve local communities, and a total of 14 polling stations were available in the area of the town of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler. This made it possible for people to vote across the board. Several polling stations have also been implemented as tent solutions: in Ahrbrück, Altenburg, Dernau, Rech, Bad Neuenahr and Bad Bodendorf.
Download video (12.1 MB | MP4)