René Stadtkewitz, an AfD candidate, won the mayoral election in Zehdenick, a town of about 13,000 inhabitants north of Berlin, convincingly in the first round. In the local vote, Stadtkewitz secured 58.4% of the votes, with Stephan von Hundelshausen of the FDP taking second place with 28.6%.
The result was quickly noted by René Springer, the AfD state boss for Brandenburg. Commenting on the victory, Springer suggested that the election results in Zehdenick are symptomatic of a larger shift happening across the state. He asserted that the AfD is becoming increasingly dominant among mayors and district administrators, declaring that “something must change in our state-and that change can only come with the AfD”. The statement effectively establishes Stadtkewitz as the sole full-time AfD mayor in Brandenburg for the time being.
Meanwhile, Zyon Braun, the FDP state head, classified the result as an “encouraging success”. Braun used the result to argue that the Free Democrats remain attractive to many people and that their presence is valuable.
Other participants in the election-which saw no candidates from established national parties-included Wolf-Gernot Richardt, who gained 7.8% of the votes as an independent candidate, and Dennis Latzke from the “Party of Progress” who received 5.2%.
