Red Cross Styria

Siegfried Schrittwieser wins election by a landslide

A beaming winner: Siegfried Schrittwieser is the new President of the Styrian Red Cross.(Bild: Jürgen Fuchs)

Styria's Red Cross has been dealt a major blow: SPÖ veteran Siegfried Schrittwieser and his "reform group" have won a surprising landslide victory, replacing Werner Weinhofer as president of the country's largest rescue organization.

The election of the new Red Cross leadership in Styria has probably never been so exciting: unlike the last vote in 2019, as well as in previous years, this time a second list ran for the first time - led by SPÖ veteran Siegfried Schrittwieser. The political heavyweight with 40 years of Red Cross experience announced in the spring that he and his "reform group" wanted to replace President Werner Weinhofer, who had been in office for eleven years - which has now actually been achieved.

Outcome open until the end
The outcome of the election remained completely open until the very end, with a neck-and-neck race for the office of the new president looming. In Monday's "Krone", Weinhofer was still fairly confident that he would be re-elected.

New President Siegfried Schrittwieser at the General Assembly of the Styrian Red Cross in Graz.(Bild: Jürgen Fuchs)

On Tuesday evening, 168 delegates from all districts cast their votes at the general assembly of the largest Styrian rescue organization at the Seifenfabrik in Graz. At around 7.30 pm, after the votes had been counted, it was clear: Siegfried Schrittwieser would be the new Red Cross President in Styria! And by a larger margin than expected: 112 votes were cast for challenger Schrittwieser and only 52 for incumbent Weinhofer.

Incumbent Werner Weinhofer failed to win re-election.(Bild: Jürgen Fuchs)

"Landing pad for ideas"
"As stated in our program, I would like to set up a landing pad for new ideas, where every functionary, every district and local office can contribute. We will use this to lead the Red Cross into a bright future," said Schrittwieser in his first words of thanks. Schrittwieser's list was also elected by a large majority and the new executive committee is now being formed.