Giffey's protégé Severin Fischer: The new hope for Potsdam?

Giffey's protégé Severin Fischer: The new hope for Potsdam?

Potsdam, Deutschland - In Brandenburg, the next elections are just around the corner and the political waves hit up. On September 21, Potsdam will choose a new head of the city, since Mike Schubert, the previous mayor (SPD), gave up after a citizens' decision. There are already some exciting developments for the successor of the popular politician. So the SPD goes into the race with Severin Fischer (41). The State Secretary in the Senate Department for Economy was elected to the top candidate of the Potsdam SPD last weekend. As the taz , the choice falls on Fischer, which has so far been largely unknown in Berlin, but has close connections to the current economic senator Franziska Giffey (47).

Giffey, even an important figure in the SPD, is well networked with Fischer and praises him as "one of the smartest heads that I know - hardworking, carefully and solution -oriented". This proximity could give Fischer an advantage in the coming months, even if he still has to become known in Potsdam. The SPD stronghold of Potsdam are the chances of Fischer, who has been working as a state secretary in Giffey's Senate administration since 2018, certainly to trust-especially since no other known SPD candidate has come to the move. The prominent heads of the Potsdam SPD have all waved off. So the voters could possibly feel a fresh air in the city on September 21st.

candidates and competition

Alongside Severin Fischer has the political landscape in Potsdam to offer other candidates. Among other things, Noosha Aubel will go into the race for the Greens as a non-party candidate, while the CDU has already announced its candidatians with Willo Göpel and the AfD with Uwe-Chaled Said. In addition, the left remains questionable who will compete for you and whether she can present a candidate in good time. The BZ Berlin reports that the political mixture remains tense after the resignation of Schubert and the upcoming elections.

A look into the past shows that the change of leading politicians between Berlin and Brandenburg has already happened. For example, Jörg Schönbohm from the CDU and Wolfgang Wieland von the Greens noticed by similar changes. Schönbohm was previously the interior senator in Berlin and later took over the office of the Interior Minister in Brandenburg. Such changes are less common in the other direction. Susanne Hoffmann (CDU), who changed from Brandenburg to Berlin as State Secretary for Justice, is one of the few exceptions.

political mood before the election

The political mood in Potsdam is currently tense, especially after the last local elections in June 2024, which took place in Brandenburg. Here the AfD was able to win high voices and the SPD had to come to terms with changing majorities. There were also several allegations of elections that further poisoned the mood. The Tagesspiegel indicates that the mayor and his successor are in a complex location.

whether Severin Fischer has grown to the challenges and whether he can win the trust of Potsdam citizens remains to be seen. In any case, the political competition will be exciting in the coming weeks, and the election on September 21 will show where the way for Potsdam and his new leaders will lead.