Candidate for mayor

The ÖVP backs René Bickel

Deputy Mayor Nadine Amann with local councillors René Bickel (center) and Herbert Motter.(Bild: ÖVP)

The 31-year-old René Bickel has been nominated by the ÖVP-affiliated "Zukunft Hard" list as candidate for mayor. He will challenge local leader Martin Staudinger (SPÖ) in the upcoming election.

After decades of the Black Party calling the shots in the Lake Constance municipality, the mayor's office was lost in the fall of 2020. Martin Staudinger (SPÖ) clearly prevailed in the run-off election against the black incumbent Eva-Maria Mair. She had taken over the mayoral agenda in December 2019 from Harald Köhlmeier, who had resigned unexpectedly. In previous years, Hard was firmly in the hands of the People's Party under Hugo Rogginer (1999 - 2010) and Gerhard Köhlmeier (1970 - 1998).

The 31-year-old René Bickel is now set to build on the previous electoral successes. He was nominated as the mayoral candidate of the ÖVP-affiliated "Zukunft Hard" list on Thursday evening in the Hard parish center. The father of two has been the parliamentary group leader and a member of the municipal council since 2020. He currently works for an insurance brokerage firm in Hard.

The declared aim of top candidate René Bickel and his fellow campaigners, who also include non-party list members, is to strengthen the quality of service in the municipality. "The municipality should be a partner and enabler for its citizens and entrepreneurs, which requires a hard-working mayor who, together with a strong team, will personally take care of this," said Bickel. Another focus should be on the topics of clubs and voluntary work as well as affordable housing. The ÖVP Hard has already developed its own concept for this.