Duel for mayor

A second round of voting is necessary in Baumgartenberg

Baumgartenberg municipal office(Bild: Horst Einöder/Flashpictures)

There was a surprisingly close election result on Sunday in the mayoral election in the Mühlviertel municipality of Baumgartenberg. ÖVP candidate Natascha Burian won the first round of voting with just two percent more votes than SPÖ candidate Alexander Leutgeb. FPÖ candidate Alfred Hani, on the other hand, came a distant third.

Following the resignation of the previous ÖVP mayor Gerhard Fornwagner, the population of the 1800-inhabitant municipality was called upon to go to the polls on Sunday. As reported, Fornwagner resigned from office in September after an accident involving alcohol and fleeing from the police. In 2021, the 49-year-old was elected head of the village with almost 70 percent of the vote. 

ÖVP candidate Natascha Burian(Bild: © Alexander Kaiser / lichtlinien_at)

Mother-of-three Natascha Burian entered the race for the ÖVP this time. The 45-year-old long-time municipal employee achieved 41.02 percent of the vote on Sunday. 

Just behind her, 26-year-old teacher Alexander Leutgeb (SPÖ) achieved a respectable 39.38%. Both will therefore have to face a run-off election in two weeks' time (on February 9).

SPÖ candidate Alexander Leutgeb(Bild: SPÖ)

The FPÖ candidate and master carpenter Alfred Hani (68) only achieved 19.6 percent of the vote, falling well short of expectations. Voter turnout was more than 75 percent.

The jubilation in the provincial SPÖ was correspondingly great. "A strong result and a great signal for a good future in municipal politics in Baumgartenberg. The people of Baumgartenberg have shown what is important to them: cohesion and social security. This is what Alexander Leutgeb stands for, and he is exactly the right man for the job," said a delighted Florian Koppler, the party's regional managing director. He is optimistic that Leutgeb also has excellent chances in the run-off election and will master his future tasks for the municipality superbly.