Too few candidates

The SPÖ has already lost the election before the election

FPÖ lead candidate David Teichtmeister and ÖVP lead candidate Wolfgang Ettenauer (from left) expect to win many votes from the SPÖ in Lengenfeld with lead candidate Barbara Hauswirth (right).

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Attila Molnar, FPÖ, SPÖ, Johannes Vogl)

Mathematically, this is simply no longer possible: As the mayoral party in Lengenfeld in the district of Krems, the SPÖ currently holds nine seats. However, it is only running four candidates in the local council elections. The ÖVP in particular wants to take advantage of the self-sacrifice in the battle for the mayor's seat.

Because the SPÖ is only running four candidates in the Lengenfeld municipal elections and can therefore only fill a maximum of four of the 19 seats on the municipal council, the party already has no chance of winning the mayor's seat in the Krems district.

Now that SPÖ local leader Christian Kopeztky and his red deputy Thomas Berger are no longer running after two terms, many other party members have also thrown in the towel. "The once intended successor has moved away, many are now quitting with the outgoing mayor," says SPÖ district manager Werner Stöberl, explaining the dilemma. However, the party does not want to leave the field entirely to the middle-class wing, which is why Barbara Hauswirth is running with a small team. If they win more than four seats, there will be vacancies on the municipal council.

Battling for vacant SPÖ seats
The ÖVP-affiliated Ernst Thaller list, which helped the SPÖ to become mayor in the last two terms, will also be running again. With new top candidate Wolfgang Ettenauer from the winery of the same name, the ÖVP in Lengenfeld even has more candidates than list places. The winegrower is going into the election full of confidence: "There are many things that have been completely neglected for our municipality in recent years. We have to fix that quickly," says the 49-year-old.

One vote short of entering the municipal council
The FPÖ missed out on entering the council by just one vote in the 2020 election. Now five candidates are running. "We don't just want to get involved, we also want to take responsibility," emphasizes lead candidate David Teichtmeister. René Denk