The 45-year-old lawyer Arndt Michael prevails against the Opfingen farmer Martin Linser in the community center Zähringen – with a narrow majority and only four votes ahead.
30 members of the CDU Freiburg and Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald voted for Arndt Michael at the nomination meeting on Friday evening in the community center Zähringen. The 42-year-old winemaker Martin Linser received 26 yes-votes. Christine Baumgartner became the substitute candidate.
Michael describes himself as “conservative-liberal”
Michael – his surname is pronounced in English because his father comes from Great Britain – is a lawyer and political scientist and heads the Freiburg CDU branch in Unterwiehre-Günterstal. He calls himself “conservative-liberal” and sees his focus on ecology and economy. “Environment and climate change are the issues where we have to compete against extremely strong green competition,” said Michael with a view to the state elections on March 14, 2021. In Freiburg in particular, the CDU should not chase after green and left-wing issues.
Professionally, the lecturer at Freiburg University focuses on European politics and India, and he also coordinates the Colloquium politicum dialogue series. Michael lives in a partnership and is the new father of a daughter.
Martin Linser, a farmer from Opfingen, is Vice-President of the Baden Winegrowing Association and was involved in the referendum on the Dietenbach district on the part of farmers. In the 2019 municipal council elections, he reached 10th place on the CDU list. The main themes of the married father of two daughters are education and transport, the environment and local food production: “Nature conservation only works with agriculture, not against it.” He wants to stand up for the region as a down-to-earth MP.
CDU members ask Linser critical questions
But the CDU members asked him a number of critical questions: How long has he been a party member and what positions does he hold? How did he, as a Dietenbach critic, want to explain the conflict to voters, so that the CDU parliamentary group clearly voted for the district? What about the demarcation to the Greens: “What’s the difference?” Asked a representative of the Women’s Union.
He’s not afraid of confrontation, said Linser, who has been a member since 2019: “You could say I’m a green member of the CDU.” He wanted to recapture the constituency.
Arndt Michael has been a CDU member for 30 years and listed many topics such as medium-sized businesses, sustainable mobility with a commitment to the car and enforcement of the law. But above all he emphasized that Freiburg is a young city with many students and that the university is the largest employer. It is important to win back young and changing voters.
Michael announces “furious” digital election campaign
Inquiries related to senior citizens and the Freiburg surrounding communities, to migration and Moria. Like Linser, Michael spoke out in favor of taking in more refugees. In view of the Corona regulations, the candidate announced a “furious digital election campaign” and named the target: 30 percent plus.
Christine Baumgartner will run as a second candidate. The 53-year-old financial expert and winemaker from Vogtsburg-Oberbergen received 34 yes-votes, for her competitor, lawyer Melanie Kienle from Freiburg, 19 CDU members voted.
There was applause at the meeting, led by Südbadens CDU boss Andreas Schwab, among others from the Bundestag member Matern von Marschall, from the Freiburg CDU council group chairman Carolin Jenkner, the district chairman Bernhard Rotzinger (Freiburg) and Patrick Rap (Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald), who for the constituency of Breisgau sits in the state parliament, as well as of Bernhard Schätzle, who last won the state parliament mandate for the CDU in electoral district 47 Freiburg II in 2006.
The constituency includes 18 districts and the four surrounding communities of Gottenheim, March, Schallstadt and Umkirch. In 2016, the Green Edith Sitzmann won the direct mandate. Johannes Baumgärtner won 17 percent of the vote for the CDU.
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