Sole ÖVP bastion

Is the mayor now getting “cold feet”?

"SPÖ rebel" Rudi Fußi is running in Harbach in the Waldviertel. The mayor and former Federal Council President Margit Göll is running for a fourth term in office as head of the town.

(Bild: Reinhard Holl, Parlament)

The climate in the Waldviertel is often harsh and the weather is not the warmest. Former Federal Council President Margit Göll and political advisor Rudi Fußi - who most recently wanted to topple SPÖ leader Andreas Babler - are actually active on the federal political stage and are now running in the small municipality of Moorbad Harbach. In the 100 percent ÖVP municipality, Göll expects to retain the absolute.

She was ÖVP Federal Council President in the first half of 2024, he had tried to politically oust "party comrade" Andreas Babler as SPÖ federal leader towards the end of the previous year.

Ten years of sole rule
For the last two municipal council terms - i.e. ten years - the ÖVP and local leader Margit Göll were the only party in the 720-strong community of Moorbad Harbach. Göll has held the office of mayor in the Waldviertel spa community for 15 years.

Now there are suddenly two other lists running: an independent list "Harbach for all", which includes all the Social Democrats - including "party rebel" Rudi Fußi in 15th and last place on the list - and the FPÖ with four candidates.

"In the last five years, I have implemented the biggest and most important projects of my term of office in our municipality. There is now a fiber optic connection for every house across the board, the elementary school and municipal office have been rebuilt and much more," says Göll, who believes he will lose a significant amount of the ÖVP's 100 percent, but will still retain an absolute majority and thus the mayor's seat.

Fußi wants to break the ÖVP absolute from the very bottom
Even if the temperatures in the idyllic health community are fresh, Göll does not expect to get a "cold Fußi": "He is not popular with our citizens and has shot himself in the foot with his behavior and various statements." Fußi emphasizes that as the last person on the list, he has virtually no chance of winning a seat: "But I want to see whether the ÖVP absolute can be broken there."