Election in the city of Linz

Even comrades were surprised by Prammer’s victory

After a glass of wine in the evening, the final spurt in the election campaign began early on Monday morning for election winner Dietmar Prammer (2nd from left).

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/SPÖ Linz)

The Linz mayoral election is entering the second round and remains exciting: the question is who will get the votes of the losers in the second round. The chances for FPÖ man Michael Raml are intact, even though the SPÖ were back on the streets hours after the victory to run for Dietmar Prammer. 

Much will depend on the voter turnout in this close election for the mayor of Linz - the official term for the run-off. As is well known, only 42.2% of those entitled to vote in Linz cast their ballot on Sunday. An even lower turnout is expected for the run-off election on Sunday, January 26 - and this is precisely why the Social Democrats must now tremble. If Dietmar Prammer's voters assume in the second round that he will become mayor and stay at home, the ÖVP clientele could turn blue.

Will the mayoral seat go to the FPÖ in the last few meters?
The FPÖ will be fishing in the manageable but hugely important pool of ÖVP voters. If the votes of Martin Hajart, who was eliminated in the round, go to candidate Michael Raml, he could snatch the mayor's seat from the SPÖ in the last few meters. This scenario is also conceivable for politics professor Peter Filzmaier, who observed and analyzed the election for the "Krone" newspaper.

"Bump on": FPÖ provincial councillor Günther Steinkellner congratulated his party colleague Michael Raml, who won a mayoral run-off election in Linz for the FPÖ for the first time.

(Bild: Wenzel Markus/Markus Wenzel)

SPÖ did not expect this top result
However, the votes of the defeated candidates from the Greens, Neos, KPÖ and Linz+ are also still on the market. It is not yet clear whether the top candidates will make an election recommendation. In any case, SPÖ regional manager Florian Koppler said on Monday: "The load off his mind was huge.

The party manager, who is firmly anchored in the Linz SPÖ and is said to have ambitions for the office of deputy mayor in the provincial capital, did not expect such a result in the run-up to the election: "Of course I was betting on Prammer, but I saw him at 37%. I would have put Michael Raml at 23%." He doesn't see the low voter turnout as dramatically as others: "The municipal council and state parliament weren't also elected. Then things would have looked different." In any case, the SPÖ has already started running for their "Didi"

SPÖ candidate was on the streets at 6 a.m. himself
"It was already clear to us in advance that we would take to the streets again on the Monday after the election." No sooner said than done - alongside several other SPÖ teams in the city, Dietmar Prammer himself was already up at 6 a.m. to diligently distribute flyers in Rudolfstraße - together with former city councillor Regina Fechter, among others.

"It's clear to us that we have to do everything we can to motivate the people of Linz to put their trust in me for the run-off election in two weeks' time," says Prammer. The 50-year-old does not want to think that he already has victory in the bag anyway. That's why there were no big celebrations on Sunday. "Of course we toasted with a glass, but hopefully we can really celebrate on 26 January."

Because of appointments: FPÖ candidate took a short break from the election campaign
The Freedom Party is different: It has almost become a tradition for them to gather at the Stieglitz on Linzer Landstraße on election night to celebrate the joint efforts of the past few weeks - although Michael Raml kept a low profile because there were two important appointments regarding safety and health on Monday morning. "The election campaign will have to wait a while," said Raml, who otherwise shares Prammer's view: "I'm going out to meet the people." 

If anyone wants to bet on it: Bet-at-home sees Dietmar Prammer as the winner of the run-off.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

Exciting in this context: The bookmakers at bet-at-home have set odds for the run-off. They see Prammer as the winner.