2021 Graz local election

The 2021 Graz local election was held on 26 September 2021 to elect the members of the Gemeinderat of Graz.

2021 Graz local election
← 2017 26 September 2021

All 48 seats in the Gemeinderat of Graz
25 seats needed for a majority
Turnout120,689 (54.0%)
Decrease 3.4%
  First party Second party Third party
 
ELKE KAHR S.Weidinger 0164.jpg
Judith Schwentner im Gemeinderatssaal Graz.jpg
Leader Elke Kahr Siegfried Nagl Judith Schwentner
Party KPÖ ÖVP Greens
Last election 10 seats, 20.3% 19 seats, 37.8% 5 seats, 10.5%
Seats won 15 13 9
Seat change Increase 5 Decrease 6 Increase 4
Popular vote 34,283 30,797 20,593
Percentage 28.8% 25.9% 17.3%
Swing Increase 8.5% Decrease 11.9% Increase 6.8%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Mario Eustacchio.jpg
Leader Mario Eustacchio Michael Ehmann Philipp Pointner
Party FPÖ SPÖ NEOS
Last election 8 seats, 15.9% 5 seats, 10.0% 1 seat, 3.9%
Seats won 5 4 2
Seat change Decrease 3 Decrease 1 Increase 1
Popular vote 12,612 11,325 6,447
Percentage 10.6% 9.5% 5.4%
Swing Decrease 5.3% Decrease 0.5% Increase 1.5%

Winning party by municipal district.

Mayor before election

Siegfried Nagl
ÖVP

Elected mayor

Elke Kahr
KPÖ

The Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) became the largest party for the first time in the city's history, winning 29% of votes cast. The previous governing party, the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), fell from 38% to second place with 26%. The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) also suffered losses and finished in fourth place on 11%, while The Greens moved into third with 17%. The Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) recorded a slight decline to 9.5%. NEOS – The New Austria won 5.4% and gained a second seat.[1][2]

Siegfried Nagl, ÖVP mayor of Graz since 2003, announced that he would resign in light of his party's poor result. The KPÖ subsequently formed a coalition with the Greens and SPÖ, and Elke Kahr was elected mayor by the Gemeinderat on 17 November with 28 out of 46 votes. She became the first female mayor of Graz and first communist mayor of an Austrian city.[3][4]

Background

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The Styrian constitution mandates that positions in municipal government (city councillors, German: Stadträten) be allocated between parties proportionally in accordance with the share of votes won by each; this is known as Proporz. As such, the government of Graz is a perpetual coalition of all parties that qualify for at least one city councillor.

In the 2017 election, the ÖVP made modest gains and retained its first-place position with 38%. The KPÖ remained the second largest party in Graz with 20%. The FPÖ finished in third place with 16%. The Greens suffered slight losses, while the SPÖ fell from third to fifth place with just 10% of the vote. NEOS won a single seat in the council. The city government was dominated by the ÖVP with three councillors, while the KPÖ won two councillors, and the FPÖ and Greens won one each.

Electoral system

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The 48 seats of the Gemeinderat of Graz are elected via open list proportional representation with no electoral threshold.

Contesting parties

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Name Ideology Leader 2017 result
Votes (%) Seats Councillors
ÖVP Austrian People's Party
Österreichische Volkspartei
Christian democracy Siegfried Nagl 37.8%
19 / 48
3 / 7
KPÖ Communist Party of Austria
Kommunistische Partei Österreichs
Communism Elke Kahr 20.3%
10 / 48
2 / 7
FPÖ Freedom Party of Austria
Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs
Right-wing populism
Euroscepticism
Mario Eustacchio 15.9%
8 / 48
1 / 7
GRÜNE The Greens – The Green Alternative
Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative
Green politics Judith Schwentner 10.5%
5 / 48
1 / 7
SPÖ Social Democratic Party of Austria
Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs
Social democracy Michael Ehmann 10.0%
5 / 48
0 / 7
NEOS NEOS – The New Austria
NEOS – Das Neue Österreich und Liberales Forum
Liberalism Philipp Pointner 3.9%
1 / 48
0 / 7

In addition to the parties already represented in the Gemeinderat, eight parties collected enough signatures to be placed on the ballot:

Opinion polling

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Outlet Date ÖVP KPÖ FPÖ Grüne SPÖ NEOS Others Lead
2021 local election 26 Sep 2021 25.9 28.8 10.6 17.3 9.5 5.4 2.4 2.9
Ifat 17 Sep 2021 34.1 25.4 11.8 15.0 10.1 2.9 0.7 8.7
unbekannt 5 Sep 2021 33.2 24.6 12.6 14.2 11.8 3.6 8.6
OGM 4 Sep 2021 35 20 12 15 11 4 3 15
bmm 16 Aug 2021 36 20 12 14 11 4.9 3.1 16
unbekannt 18 Apr 2021 32 22 11 14 12 7 2 10
Ifat 7 Feb 2021 37 18 15 16 9 5 19
OGM 7 Feb 2021 30 24 13 16 9 6 2 6
Ifat March 2020 38.4 17.7 15.1 16.2 9.6 3 20.7
2017 local election 5 Feb 2017 37.8 20.3 15.9 10.5 10.0 3.9 1.5 17.5

Results

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Results by party.
 
Party Votes % +/− Seats +/− Coun. +/−
Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) 34,283 28.84 +8.50 15 +5 3 +1
Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) 30,797 25.91 –11.88 13 –6 2 –1
The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE) 20,593 17.32 +6.81 9 +4 1 ±0
Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) 12,612 10.61 –5.25 5 –3 1 ±0
Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) 11,325 9.53 –0.52 4 –1 0 ±0
NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum (NEOS) 6,447 5.42 +1.48 2 +1 0 ±0
dieBasis Graz (BASIS) 1,025 0.86 New 0 New 0 New
Pirate Party of Austria (PIRAT) 468 0.39 –0.70 0 ±0 0 ±0
Responsibility Earth (ERDE) 429 0.36 New 0 New 0 New
Team HC Strache – Alliance for Austria (HC) 296 0.25 New 0 New 0 New
Graz in the Heart (GRAZ) 226 0.19 New 0 New 0 New
Free Citizens' Party Graz (FBP) 161 0.14 New 0 New 0 New
WiR – Together for Graz (WIR) 110 0.09 New 0 New 0 New
The Austrian PARTEI (DÖP) 110 0.09 New 0 New 0 New
Invalid/blank votes 1,807
Total 120,689 100 48 0 7 0
Registered voters/turnout 223,512 54.00 –3.39
Source: Stadt Graz
Popular vote
KPÖ
28.84%
ÖVP
25.91%
GRÜNE
17.32%
FPÖ
10.61%
SPÖ
9.53%
NEOS
5.42%
Other
2.37%
Gemeinderat seats
KPÖ
31.25%
ÖVP
27.08%
GRÜNE
18.75%
FPÖ
10.42%
SPÖ
8.33%
NEOS
4.17%

Results by district

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District KPÖ ÖVP Grüne FPÖ SPÖ NEOS
I. Innere Stadt 32.9 21.5 19.5 9.8 5.5 8.3
II. St. Leonhard 33.6 22.4 22.4 6.6 6.4 6.2
III. Geidorf 30.2 23.6 22.3 7.0 7.1 7.4
IV. Lend 34.4 19.8 14.2 12.2 12.6 4.2
V. Gries 37.8 18.8 13.2 14.0 10.9 2.7
VI. Jakomini 37.3 20.3 15.6 10.2 9.2 4.6
VII. Liebenau 24.1 28.0 11.8 16.4 11.9 4.9
VIII. St. Peter 27.0 27.8 20.5 9.0 8.7 5.1
IX. Waltendorf 22.0 33.5 19.1 8.9 7.6 6.8
X. Ries 22.2 32.0 19.5 9.6 8.3 5.8
XI. Mariatrost 22.8 32.9 21.4 7.8 5.9 7.1
XII. Andritz 24.1 29.5 18.6 9.5 10.5 5.6
XIII. Gösting 25.6 28.4 10.0 17.3 13.1 3.5
XIV. Eggenberg 31.6 22.2 14.8 12.7 11.2 5.0
XV. Wetzelsdorf 28.2 25.3 10.3 17.6 12.4 3.6
XVI. Straßgang 25.7 29.3 10.7 16.2 11.5 4.3
XVII. Puntigam 26.1 28.3 9.4 18.2 10.3 5.0
Total 28.8 25.9 17.3 10.6 9.5 5.4
Source: Stadt Graz

Aftermath

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The victory of the Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) was unexpected.[2] Elke Kahr herself expressed surprise at the result: "The preliminary election result is a huge success for us and more than gratifying. I didn't expect to gain that much." While conceding the election, mayor Siegfried Nagl quipped: "You can see that the clocks in Graz run differently than in the rest of Austria."[5]

The KPÖ were expected to take over the mayoralty as no practical majority could be formed to oppose them. The Greens were considered a likely partner, but a third party was required for a majority in the Gemeinderat. Although Nagl ruled out working with the KPÖ during the campaign, the new ÖVP leadership took a noticeably softer stance, raising the possibility of cooperation between the two. The SPÖ and NEOS were also possible partners. Elke Kahr previously voiced her preference for pragmatic cooperation on policy matters and "free play of groups in the Gemeinderat" rather than a fixed coalition pact; the process for electing the mayor could enable the KPÖ to win even without a majority.[6]

After a series of exploratory talks, the SPÖ voted on 22 October to start official coalition talks with the KPÖ and Greens.[7] The three parties presented their coalition program on 13 November. Elke Kahr described a "socially, climate-friendly and democratically transparent" Graz as their goal, with plans to expand community housing, access to transit and education, and transform the city centre into a car-free green space. Kahr will become mayor and reclaim the housing portfolio. Overall, the KPÖ will also hold the finance, health, housing, integration, and education portfolios, with Manfred Eber joining Robert Krotzer as the party's third city councillor. Judith Schwentner will become vice-mayor and councillor for transit and planning. The SPÖ, lacking any city councillors, will chair several committees in the Gemeinderat.[8]

The Gemeinderat convened for its constituent session on 17 November. Elke Kahr was elected mayor with 28 out of 46 votes, becoming the first female mayor of Graz and first communist mayor of an Austrian city. As one KPÖ deputy was absent from the session, Kahr received at least one vote from the opposition.[3]

In the FPÖ Graz there was a financial scandal after the election. As a result, the chairman and ex-vice mayor resigned.

Claudia Schönbacher takes over the FPÖ in Graz. This helps the judiciary by excluding the club chairman of the FPÖ in the municipal council from the club. Federal party chairman Herbert Kickl then expelled Claudia Schönbacher and her team from the Freedom Party. After that, Schönbacher reported several FPÖ politicians and the Austrian police found Nazi material on several FPÖ city politicians during house searches.

The FPÖ club in Graz municipal council is split, all FPÖ municipal council members found the club: (corruption) free municipal council club, KFGK. From 2022 there will only be one FPÖler in the Graz municipal council.

The investigations of the judiciary are still ongoing (April 2023).

References

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  1. ^ "Communist party wins municipal election in Austrian city". Associated Press. Berlin. 27 September 2021.
  2. ^ a b Leonhard, Ralf (27 September 2021). "KPÖ wins municipal council elections: Graz hears the signals". Die Tageszeitung (in German).
  3. ^ a b "Livestream: Elke Kahr is Graz mayor". ORF (in German). 17 November 2021.
  4. ^ Gonzalez, Jenipher Camino (17 November 2021). "Austrian city swears in first-ever communist mayor". Deutsche Welle.
  5. ^ "Graz has voted". City of Graz (in German). 28 September 2021.
  6. ^ Holzer, Elisabeth (30 September 2021). "After the elections in Graz: Which coalitions are now possible". Kurier (in German).
  7. ^ "Graz after the election: SPÖ says "yes" to left coalition". Kronen Zeitung (in German). 22 October 2021.
  8. ^ "KPÖ-led left-wing coalition presents its "Program for Graz"". Der Standard (in German). 13 November 2021.