Run-off in the slot: Old Town vs. Laurinat

SCHLITZ – It was a quiet but exciting election night in Schlitz – and it will have a duplicate in two weeks. Although the CDU's candidate, Alexander Altstadt, clearly won the race with 45.3%, it was not enough for the absolute majority on Sunday. He faces November 11, Jürgen Laurinat, a non-party party that won 28.4% of the vote. Klaus-Jürgen Kreutzer is immediately behind with 26.3%. Voter turnout was 71%.

The trend of the evening can be recognized quickly. Nevertheless, it remained exciting for a long time. Will Alexander Altstadt, 43, win the election immediately or will he go into overtime? That was the question of the evening, which was held without great emotional explosions. Hours of silence, punctually interrupted by whispers and noises, prevailed in the Schlitzer Rathaus room, where the results were presented to citizens and the press. The start quickly made the district of Nieder-Stoll, which should vote against the later trend: here the old town at 35.9% and Laurinat clearly at 47%. Kreutzer came in at 17.1 percent. However, only 160 voters have been called to the polls here. During the evening, the order of arrival became increasingly clear. While 60-year-old Kreutzer could not win a majority in any part of the city, Laurinat, 41, and Nieder-Stoll, also managed to win Bernshausen with 37.4%. A clear result – 77.7% – brought CDU-Mann Altstadt to his hometown, Fraurombach. And shortly after 7 pm, after the countdown of seven electoral districts, the old city briefly held the absolute majority with 51.5% of the vote. But it melted during the evening.

Third place disappointed

Around 18:45, Klaus-Jürgen Kreutzer was the first candidate to enter the city hall, which was still waiting for other results. Three districts were counted at this time. But for Kreutzer, it was almost finished. While the few citizens and representatives of the press were waiting for the results, Kreutzer left the room and telephoned. "It does not look good," you tell him. His mood sank every result further into the cellar. The disappointment was to be seen. When almost all constituencies were counted, Kreutzer left, although only a few percentage points separated him from Jurgen Laurinat's result. "No comment," he explained sadly and did not want to be photographed either. "I had a lot of work, I had a lot of supporters, now it's over, too bad!", He said at the time and said that he would resume his work on Monday. He always praised the fair election campaign and quickly left the building around 8 pm, as well as his supporters Bunte List and SPD, who could no longer be contacted to make a statement. The other two mayoral candidates have not been seen yet. When the winner of the evening, Alexander Altstadt, finally came on the scene, all the constituencies were counted, with the exception of the postal vote. "I am happy with the clear result and we will meet again in two weeks, so the count is certainly faster," he smiled and also hailed the fair electoral campaign. "And then?" As always, with citizens talking, talking, talking and advertising. It will be two more difficult weeks. He hopes that many of the voters who voted for Klaus-Jürgen Kreutzer in the first round of voting will now decide for him.

Jurgen Laurinat, who went to the town hall around 20:30, also expected. "I look forward to the second round and voter turnout has also been good, which is a great result for a political newcomer like me," he said. He also expects "Kreutzer's supporters to tend more towards me". Was he still preparing special campaigns for the second round? "I'm not saying that yet," he smiled.

Mayor Hans-Jürgen Schäfer, who, after 24 years in power, freed the executive president from his successor, welcomed the good separation of his first city council, but he did not want to comment on the results of the election: "We do not talk about his eventual successors," he said. The choice is still not dry.

The three mayors Edwin Schneider (Ulrichstein), Bernhard Ziegler (Herbstein) and Dieter Schäfer (Lautertal) also congratulated Altstadt. They also stopped at the end of the counting marathon at City Hall. For the three town halls, the president and the mayor of the old town of Altkreis Lauterbach are the chiefs. In the end, the final result finally arrived around 9:20 pm, but that did not change anything at the end of the elections. It is now time to breathe deeply, then the race at the town hall continues.