There was no real campaign mood: incumbent Thorsten Stolz is the clear favorite in the district elections in the Main-Kinzig district on Sunday. His only challenger is still having fun.
By Heiko Schneider
When the Vogelsberg rises to the left in the Kinzig valley and the Spessart to the right, it becomes green and rather village-like. Completely different: looking in the other direction. There is a big city in Hanau. The area here is much more urban, characterized by the proximity to Offenbach and Frankfurt. The Main-Kinzig district is a district of contrasts.
Right in the middle is Gelnhausen, the district town. The district administration has its seat there and the district administrator has his office. This has been Thorsten Stolz since 2017 – and the SPD politician wants to keep this job. “I’m also in good spirits,” said the 43-year-old before the district election on Sunday. The feedback he received in the street election campaign was positive.
Challenger with little experience
However, the Main-Kinzig district did not really get into a hot campaign mood. Major issues have not popped up, and there is no political gossip either – by and large, the district has been “in good hands” with Stolz over the past six years. He is now using this slogan to promote his re-election.
This is probably one of the reasons why only one candidate, Gabriele Stenger from the CDU, dared to challenge Stolz. The 46-year-old from Hanau is advertised by her party as “from outside”. You will fill the office “differently”. In other words, she has little experience in administration or in a political office.
Stenger has only recently become politically active: two years ago she was elected to the Hanau city council. Accordingly, it is unknown to many people in Hesse’s most populous district with 430,000 inhabitants. To change that, she has been touring through the 29 towns and communities between Maintal and Schluechtern since September. “It’s not difficult for me at all,” says Stenger, “we’re all highly motivated and enjoy what we do.”
Sticking point living space
Stenger is a full-time tax consultant. The topic of economy is accordingly high on her agenda. Otherwise, their election program is similar to that of the incumbent. The only sticking point: the issue of “affordable housing”. Stolz wants to set up a district housing association, but Stenger refuses and wants to leave the issue to the market.
Apart from that, the two don’t offend, don’t interrupt each other during panel discussions, agree on many points – no wonder: their two parties, SPD and CDU, form a coalition at district level.
Election campaign on small talk level
And so Gabriele Stenger’s street election campaign is unspectacular. “Most of it is more on the small talk level,” explains Stenger. It is questionable whether that will be enough to convince the approximately 321,000 eligible voters. There will be certainty on Sunday when the election results will be presented at 6 p.m. in the district administration in Gelnhausen.
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