Neo-Nazi candidate loses mayoral election in Germany by nearly 500 votes — Spiegel
Marcus Hoffmann, the candidate from the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), won the second round of the mayoral election in Aue-Bad Schlem.
The representative of the traditional right managed to edge out his main opponent, who represents the interests of radical far-right forces, by a narrow margin.
This election process caused serious concern in German society due to the high likelihood that radicals would take control of the city government.
During the final count of ballots in the second round, frontrunner Markus Hofmann managed to secure the support of 5,007 local residents.
His direct rival, Stefan Hartung, co-founder of the far-right political party “Free Saxons,” received 4,499 votes.
Thus, the final margin between the candidates for mayor was 508 votes.
In total, law enforcement and administrative authorities allowed more than 15,000 local citizens to participate in the voting for these local elections.
For the first time in the history of democratic Germany, the local community came close to electing a far-right politician as mayor. Voter turnout during the second round demonstrated a high level of mobilization among the region’s democratic electorate.
Stefan Hartung, whom German experts and the media openly consider a neo-Nazi, lost the mayoral election after a successful first round.
Currently, the 37-year-old German politician belongs to the radical party “Free Saxons,” which is officially under constant surveillance by the state intelligence service.
Prior to this, he had been an active member of the National Democratic Party of Germany for many years, which is now officially known as “Homeland.”
This was reported by Spiegel.
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