In the fight for the district office there will be a runoff election in Dahme-Spreewald on Sunday. In the southern Brandenburg district on the border with Berlin, around 147,000 eligible voters are asked to choose one of the two candidates. The independent candidate Sven Herzberger and AfD candidate Steffen Kotré are entering the race. For the district on the border with Berlin, the election result is also a directional decision in terms of its development. The term of office of the new district administrator begins on March 1, 2024. Stephan Loge (SPD) is leaving office after 16 years.
Head-to-head race in the first round of voting
Herzberger and Kotré had a “heart-stopping finale” in the first round of voting on October 8th. None of the candidates received an absolute majority in the vote. Both received around 35 percent of the vote, with the AfD candidate being just ahead. In the end, Kotré was able to garner 317 more votes. Voter turnout in the first round was 50.8 percent.
Who supports the candidates?
Zeuthen Mayor Herzberger is supported by all parties except the AfD. The AfD member of the Bundestag Kotré is hoping to get a significant number of non-voters to vote. He is assigned to the right-wing fringe of the party. The Brandenburg Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified the AfD regional association as a suspected right-wing extremist case since 2020; the AfD considers the classification to be incorrect.
Economy is clearly opposed to extremism
Companies and educational institutions based in the district, such as the TH Wildau, the company Bionova Biogas from Königs Wusterhausen or the measurement technology company Deutzer Technische Kohl GmbH, speak out clearly against extremism. In a joint appeal, they set an example for cosmopolitanism, mutual understanding and respect. A call to this effect, suggested by the citizens’ movement Campact, was published in newspapers.
According to the President of the Cottbus Chamber of Crafts, Corinna Reifenstein, the district needs an “honest, reliable policy that is made for the citizens”. Integration is also necessary as a prerequisite for living together, she told the dpa. It’s also about allaying fears instead of stoking them. The region needs politicians with a vision for the future all the more.
Choice is a directional decision
The election in one of the most populous districts in Brandenburg is seen as groundbreaking. Dahme-Spreewald has been recording influxes for years. The region stretches from north to south over 81 kilometers from Schönefeld near Berlin through parts of the Spree Forest to the foothills of the Lower Fläming. With the highest gross national product in the country, the district is economically one of the strongest in Eastern Germany. Nowhere in Brandenburg are there so few unemployed people. At around 3.6 percent, unemployment is also well below the national average.
