Die Wahl des Oberbürgermeisters der Stadt Kassel vom 12. und 26. März 2023: Der Kampf zweier Sozialdemokraten und eine Stichwahl gegen sich selbst

Abstract

The election of the mayor of the city of Kassel in March 2023 was special in two respects: firstly, in the first round of voting, a candidate from the SPD ran against the incumbent mayor, who was also a member of the SPD but was running as an independent candidate . Secondly, the incumbent withdrew his candidacy after the first round, in which he had received the most votes . As a result, only the second-placed candidate from the first round was left in the run-off . On the basis of a survey of the population of Kassel and the official election statistics, it can be shown that the mayor was able to benefit from a strong incumbency bonus in the first round . The fact that the SPD withdrew its support did him little harm . The second ballot changed its character due to the incumbent not standing . Failure to secure a majority of votes for the remaining candidate would have meant new elections . For many voters, this raised the question of the desirability of new elections . In the run-off election, a majority in favor of the remaining Green candidate was ultimately only achieved because some voters wanted to avoid new elections .