Radiant winner: Christina Jantz-Herrmann received her first congratulations in front of the town hall on the evening of the election. (CARMEN JASPERSEN)
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Schwanewede. In future, a woman will sit in the executive chair in the Schwaneweder town hall. Christina Jantz-Herrmann becomes the new mayor of the Schwanewede community. In the runoff election on Sunday, the SPD candidate received 6,276 and thus 60.49 percent of the vote. Your defeated opponent, the non-party individual applicant Dieter von Bistram, got 4099 votes (39.51 percent).
Both candidates followed the counting of the runoff ballot in the town hall, which, as in the first round, was carried out as a postal vote on November 22nd because of the corona pandemic. With the election of Christina Jantz-Herrmann, the town hall remains in the hands of the SPD. The victory for the 42-year-old was already apparent after the first quick reports. In the further course, the former member of the Bundestag was able to further consolidate her lead. The administrative specialist will take over from the previous incumbent Harald Stehnken on January 1, 2021, who will retire early after more than 19 years as mayor at the end of the year.
The runoff had become necessary because in the first ballot on November 22nd, none of the four candidates who ran at the time achieved an absolute majority of over 50 percent of the votes. Christina Jantz-Herrmann was ahead in the first round with 49.09 percent, followed by Dieter von Bistram with 34.40 percent. Christina Jantz-Herrmann said she was hoping for a victory in the runoff election. Also because she has felt a tailwind from the population in the past few weeks. She was surprised that there is now a six before the decimal point. “I’m very happy about the result now.” The first congratulators were next to the incumbent Harald Stehnken and close party friends as well as her opponent, Dieter von Bistram.
“I’m not disappointed,” says the losing candidate. With around 40 percent he is “fully satisfied as a political rookie”. After all, he was still able to win voters. That Christina Jantz-Herrmann was able to expand her lead by almost 20 percent is not surprising to him. “The trend was foreseeable,” said Dieter von Bistram on the evening of the election. “I wanted to convince the voters with my services in the administration of the municipality over the past decades. That was not so appreciated by the voters, they evidently preferred ideas for the future. “
Both candidates had given gas again in the weeks leading up to the runoff election. Christina Jantz-Herrmann had her large election posters and flyer redesigned with an election slogan and a call for the runoff election. “Because it’s about Schwanewede”, read there and “Now into the runoff”. The SPD candidate received prominent campaign support from Hanover on Friday. “Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil sent me a video for my election campaign on social media. I was very happy about that.”
Dieter von Bistram also tried to mobilize voters with new posters referring to the runoff election. For von Bistram it was the first election campaign of his life. He received a lot of encouragement, but also had nasty surprises. On Facebook, the non-party, who was supported by the CDU, found himself exposed to hostility from some users in the days and weeks before the runoff election. Von Bistram speaks of insults, insults and insinuations. “I was accused of arrogance because of the baron in my name.” Because of a photo that shows him as a candidate for the congratulations by the Schwaneweder CDU chairman, he was accused of felt. “This is not just a malicious allegation, it borders on defamation,” wrote von Bistram in a Facebook post. Others have criticized the fact that he did not wear a mask during the doorstep election campaign. He says: “I always complied with the regulations of the Corona Ordinance on the doorstep.” He has been discredited not only personally, but also professionally, reports Schwaneweder, who heads the public order and social department at the town hall. “That annoyed me immensely, I find it disrespectful.”
It was a busy day for Schwaneweder election supervisor Jens Bunk and his team, which started at 1 p.m. with the preparation of the postal voting documents. Over 10,400 ballot papers had to be opened, checked, ballot envelopes removed and put in the ballot box. From 6 p.m., 64 election workers started counting the votes.
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