The people of Darmstadt have voted and opted for an exciting run-off election constellation: Their multi-department head Michael Kolmer, who is a long-time companion of the outgoing incumbent Jochen Partsch (both The Greens), but does not want to be "a copy", will meet the SPD candidate Hanno Benz, son of Darmstadt's first directly elected Lord Mayor Peter Benz, on April 2.
The two winners of the day belonged to the circle of favorites right from the start. However, none of the ten participants had succeeded in setting themselves apart from the competitors in recent weeks. What Kolmer and Benz only managed on Sunday in an initially rather close race for the front places.
The fact that, despite the wide range of personnel, not even every second eligible voter actually voted, has unfortunately long been a reality in large and medium-sized cities. Despite the slightly higher turnout compared to the election six years ago, it is to be feared that in two weeks there will be a few fewer citizens who will make their way to the ballot boxes again.
It remains to be seen which additional supporters Kolmer and Benz will be able to unite behind them for the second round. And what the supporters of CDU man Paul Georg Wandrey and Kerstin Lau of the voters' association "Uffbasse" will do. Lau in particular has done more than respectably with almost 19 percent and third place.
In any case, no one has to fear for the future that chaos will reign in the town hall and headlessness will move in. On the other hand, the two remaining candidates for the top post in the race are experienced in local political matters and are also equipped with sufficient pragmatism.
There is no shortage of tasks that urgently need to be tackled in the growing science city with its more than 160,000 inhabitants. More housing at affordable prices has not only been a central demand of many citizens since yesterday. The new development areas and districts created so far have obviously not been sufficient to noticeably improve the situation, i.e. to mitigate the increase in rents and purchase prices at least a little.
On the streets of the city, almost all road users are dissatisfied because the desired balance does not want to be achieved. Topics such as safe cycle paths, parking space management and the expansion of local transport have usually taken up the largest space in the many panel discussions during the election campaign.
On the to-do list for the new town hall boss are also points such as digitization of administration, protection of the city forest, improvements for schools and daycare centers as well as revitalization of the city center, which should be an overall experience and no longer just a shopping place in the future. During the election campaign, all this was discussed extensively. The future mayor must follow his words with deeds over the next six years.