National Council & Parliament

ÖVP decides on candidates for the elections

Governor Markus Wallner and his candidates.

(Bild: Eva Sutter | Matthias Rhomberg )

The Vorarlberg ÖVP has decided on its district candidates in Bregenz and Dornbirn for the upcoming state parliamentary elections - and has also chosen Norbert Sieber as the top candidate for the northern constituency for the National Council elections.

On Wednesday evening, the Vorarlberg People's Party decided on its candidates in the districts of Bregenz and Dornbirn for the regional elections in the fall. Governor Markus Wallner was put in first place - this will be the case in all four Vorarlberg districts. In both Bregenz and Dornbirn, the current members of parliament who want to continue are in electable positions. As announced, club chairman Roland Frühstück will no longer be on the list.

On the two district lists, Wallner is followed by the current state councillors who reside in the respective districts - another tradition of the Vorarlberg ÖVP. In Bregenz, this is State Councillor for Health Martina Rüscher, in Dornbirn State Councillor for Economic Affairs Marco Tittler. Both came into government for the first time after the 2019 state elections. It is also a tradition in Vorarlberg for state councillors to resign their parliamentary mandates as soon as they are appointed to the government.

Veronika Marte (Bregenz) is running for third place in the Bregenz district ahead of Bernhard Feuerstein (Andelsbuch), Christina Hörburger (Lauterach), Guido Flatz (Mayor of Doren in the Bregenzerwald) and Heidi Schuster-Burda (Höchst). With the exception of Flatz - who came eighth in 2019 - all of the above are already members of the provincial parliament. Four ÖVP MPs from the Bregenz district entered the state parliament in 2019.

In the district of Dornbirn, the Vorarlberg ÖVP won three seats in 2019. This time, Hanno Lecher (Dornbirn), Patrick Wiedl (Lustenau) and Angelika Benzer (Hohenems) can therefore expect to be in third to fifth place on the list. While Wiedl is already a mandate holder and would like to remain, Lecher and Benzer were left empty-handed in 2019. They had run for eighth (Benzer) and ninth (Lecher) place on the list.

National Council election candidate
In addition, current member of the National Council Norbert Sieber has been chosen as the top candidate in the Vorarlberg North regional constituency for the National Council elections in the fall. The 55-year-old from Bregenz has always been the ÖVP lead candidate in his constituency since 2013 and has been a member of parliament since 2002 - with an interruption from 2008 to 2013. Federal Councillor Christine Schwarz-Fuchs follows in second place on the list.

Successor not yet known
The Vorarlberg ÖVP currently has two representatives in the National Council: Sieber and Karlheinz Kopf from the Vorarlberg South regional constituency. While Sieber can expect to return to parliament, the 66-year-old Kopf - who has been a member of parliament since 1994 - will not be standing again. The party will decide who will succeed him as top candidate in the south of Vorarlberg on Thursday evening. The state election lists for the districts of Feldkirch and Bludenz will then also be determined.