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    Neo-Nazi Party Member Loses Close Mayoral Race in German Town | Despite losing in the runoff, his relative success capped a growing realization in Germany that voting for the far right, even within living memory of Adolf Hitler, is no longer considered taboo.


    Neo-Nazi Party Member Loses Close Mayoral Race in German Town | Despite losing in the runoff, his relative success capped a growing realization in Germany that voting for the far right, even within living memory of Adolf Hitler, is no longer considered taboo.

    Posted by GirasoleDE

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    2 Comments

    1. untoldrain on

      Paywall, but I thought it was illegal for neo-nazis to run for public office in Germany?

    2. GirasoleDE on

      *Submission statement*

      Additional information: The local AfD even planned to support the neo-Nazi, while the democratic candidates withdrew and supported the CDU candidate:

      >Danny Weber (Independent Voters, 22.5 per cent), who came third, and Left Party candidate Tony Neuß (6.4 per cent) are backing CDU candidate Hoffmann.
      >
      >According to a post on his Facebook page, AfD candidate Lars Bochmann (18.5 per cent) is not making any voting recommendations. Officially, the party states that citizens are “mature enough” to decide for themselves.
      >
      >But behind the scenes, there had been a huge rumbling: According to BILD information, there were heated debates within the AfD Erzgebirge district association, extending right up to the state executive committee, over whether Hartung of the “Freie Sachsen” should be supported if necessary. Parts of the party even wanted to withdraw Bochmann and openly call for the election of the “Freie Sachsen” candidate. Yet the “Freie Sachsen” are on the AfD’s list of incompatible parties.
      >
      >The dispute reportedly escalated all the way to the party leadership in Dresden. State leader Jörg Urban (61) and Secretary-General Jan Zwerg (60) are said to have ultimately succeeded, on the sidelines of the state parliament plenary session and under considerable pressure, in preventing official support and a voting recommendation from the AfD for Hartung. In the end, Bochmann withdrew – without a recommendation.

      https://www.bild.de/politik/inland/ob-stichwahl-krimis-in-sachsen-afd-zoff-um-den-umgang-mit-den-freien-sachsen-6a04627efeecb7c40fb1b8d5

      And the numbers add up neatly: 29.0 % for Hartung and 18.5 % for the AfD candidate in the first round and 47.3 % for Hartung in the run-off. This also shows the deep divide between the AfD voters and the rest of the populace, which can be seen in a lot of communal elections in the East-German states.

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