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All 48 seats in the Gemeinderat of Graz 25 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 120,689 (54.0%) 3.4% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Winning party by municipal district. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2021 Graz local election was held on 26 September 2021 to elect the members of the Gemeinderat of Graz.
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]
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.
The 48 seats of the Gemeinderat of Graz are elected via open list proportional representation with no electoral threshold.
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:
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 |
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 |
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 |
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]
Styria is a state (Bundesland) in the southeast of Austria. With an area of 16,401 km2 (6,332 sq mi), Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and clockwise, from the southwest, by the Austrian states of Carinthia, Salzburg, Upper Austria, Lower Austria, and Burgenland. The state capital is Graz.
Local elections were held in Graz on 20 January 2008. Apart from the five parties present in the municipal council – the Austrian People's Party, the Social Democratic Party of Austria, the Communist Party of Austria, the Freedom Party of Austria and the Greens – The Green Alternative – the Alliance for the Future of Austria also contested the election.
The 2005 Styrian state election was held on 2 October 2005 to elect the members of the Landtag of Styria.
The 2009 Upper Austrian state election was held on 27 September 2009 to elect the members of the Landtag of Upper Austria.
The 2003 Upper Austrian state election was held on 28 September 2003 to elect the members of the Landtag of Upper Austria.
The 2005 Viennese state election was held on 23 October 2005 to elect the members of the Gemeinderat and Landtag of Vienna.
The 2010 Viennese state election was held on 10 October 2010 to elect the members of the Gemeinderat and Landtag of Vienna.
Legislative elections were held in Austria on 29 September 2013 to elect the 25th National Council, the lower house of Austria's bicameral parliament.
The 2010 Styrian state election was held on 26 September 2010 to elect the members of the Landtag of Styria.
The 2018 Salzburg state election was held on 22 April 2018 to elect the members of the Landtag of Salzburg.
The 2017 Graz local election was held on 5 February 2017 to elect the members of the Gemeindesrat of Graz.
The 2018 Carinthian state election was held on 5 March 2018 to elect the members of the Landtag of Carinthia.
The 2019 Styrian state election was held on 24 November 2019 to elect the members of the Landtag of Styria.
The 2015 Upper Austrian state election was held on 27 September 2015 to elect the members of the Landtag of Upper Austria.
The 2015 Viennese state election was held on 11 October 2015 to elect the members of the Gemeinderat and Landtag of Vienna.
The 2020 Viennese state election was held on 11 October 2020 to elect the members of the Gemeinderat and Landtag of Vienna. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) and The Greens.
The 2001 Viennese state election was held on 25 March 2001 to elect the members of the Gemeinderat and Landtag of Vienna.
The 2021 Upper Austrian state election was held on 26 September 2021 to elect the members of the Landtag of Upper Austria.
Elke Kahr is an Austrian politician of the Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) who has served as Mayor of Graz, the second-largest city in Austria, since 2021. She was previously a city councillor in the municipal government since 2005. Between June 2016 and April 2017, she served as vice mayor of the city.
Judith Schwentner is an Austrian journalist and politician of The Greens who has been Vice Mayor of Graz, the second-largest city in Austria, since 2021. She has also served as councillor in the city government since 2019 and a member of the municipal council since 2021. She previously sat as a member of the National Council from 2008 to 2017.