Map colored blue – Earthquake Salzburg: the strongholds have fallen

Instantly recognizable with the naked eye: the election map has turned blue. In 2018, the FPÖ only had a majority in Großgmain. On Sunday, 30 municipalities – almost 25 percent of all municipalities – were added. The wildest change was in St. Koloman: in the small Tennengau community, top candidate Marlene Svazek’s party won 21.2 percentage points, while the blacks suffered a fat loss of 22.2 percentage points and lost first place. By the way, these are the biggest shifts in all of Salzburg.

However, what cannot be seen with the naked eye are the fallen strongholds. But they most vividly support the crash of the ÖVP. Five years ago, from Berndorf in the north to Wald in the west, there were 26 communities in which blacks won 50 percent or more of the vote. This time there are only two with Hüttschlag (54.4 percent) and Saalbach (51.5). Bizarre: together with Viehhofen, St. Martin/Lofer and Goldegg, Saalbach is one of the four places where Schwarz even gained ground. Strictly speaking, another electoral loser has gained ground with the SPÖ. In 2018, it was at the top in four municipalities. Now it’s six.

Flachgau: “Change necessary in the SPÖ”
The mayor of the red-governed municipality of Oberndorf reacted soberly to the election results. “You can’t just attribute that to the federal government,” local chief Georg Djundja told “Krone”. In the board of the SPÖ state party, on which he also sits, “a clear and hard analysis” must be carried out on Monday. His party needs change. Is he demanding the end of David Egger? The fact is, according to Djundja, that the FPÖ communicated better and reached the voters more than the SPÖ, as well as the KPÖ.

In Neumarkt, the birthplace of their top candidate David Egger, the Social Democrats took first place with 27.8 percent, just ahead of the PVV. “Difficult times harm the ruling parties,” explains Mayor Adolf Rieger (ÖVP) of Neumarkt, explaining the election defeat of the ÖVP. Salzburg continues the trend that also occurred in Lower Austria and Carinthia. Rieger finds the strong KPÖ result “totally surprising”.

The non-party mayor of Grödig, Herbert Schober, sees it this way: “I am particularly surprised that the KPÖ has won so much and that the Neos are no longer in the state parliament. I hope that a new state government can be formed soon.” Regarding the growth in the number of FPÖ votes, he sees Grödig in the state trend Schober: “They won votes everywhere.”

In Großgmain, where Marlene Svazek lives, the FPÖ got 36.5 percent. “It was clear that the FPÖ would win against its top candidate in the village,” says mayor Sebastian Schönbuchner (ÖVP). More votes for the FPÖ than for the ÖVP – that was already the case in Jörg Haider’s time. Josef Wörndl (ÖVP) is shocked: “I am shocked that the FPÖ won in Faistenau. But the will of the voters is the will of the voters.”

Tennengau: FPÖ and ÖVP almost equal
An exciting race, ÖVP and FPÖ do not separate 50 votes. It is especially scarce in Scheffau and Golling. In many traditional black communities, there are landslide victories for the libertarians. In Kuchl, for example, the ÖVP loses 16 percentage points. “There is a lot of protest because you couldn’t find yourself in politics,” analyzes ÖVP mayor Thomas Freylinger and shifts responsibility to the state government. ‘Don’t forget the Kuchler’, he can’t help but dig into the Corona policy.

According to Freylinger, voters are also working on the construction of the 380 KV line, which must run through the middle of the municipality. In St. Koloman, too, voters punish the ÖVP and turn to the Freedom Party instead.

The result is also tight in Salzburg’s second largest city. In Hallein, the FPÖ is just ahead. The SPÖ with mayor Alexander Stangassinger is only in second place. And the People’s Party is only third. “The ÖVP got the bill. She has to come up with something,” the red mayor remarks in the direction of the black competitor. However, self-critical words about his party cannot be elicited from him. The Neos no longer get a government contract for the Salzburg state parliament from Tennengau. The KPÖ climbs to a record 10.6 percent in the district.

Black Pinzgau with blue spots
Although the provisional results of the elections were a long time coming, one thing soon became clear: with Uttendorf, the FPÖ had conquered the first Pinzgau community and knocked the ÖVP out of first place there. Overall, the Blues in the Oberpinzgau municipalities consistently achieved double-digit growth and, in addition to Stuhlfelden and Niedernsill, also received the most votes in Mittersill. The other places such as Krimml and Neukirchen remain traditionally black. But everywhere the FPÖ has come closer. One possible reason: Karl Schnell’s FPS votes, which reached about ten percent in the district in 2018, are likely to have increasingly migrated to the FPÖ.

The Pongau experiences the blue miracle
Salzburg’s only blue mayor, Christian Pewny, is overwhelmed. “Finally the map of Salzburg has some bruises.” Although the ÖVP is in the lead in “his” Radstadt (34.23 percent), the politician is happy with the national election result. In Pongau, the Blues are the frontrunners in four of the 25 municipalities. In addition to St. Martin, Hüttau and Werfenweng, the Blues are also the winners in Werfen. “It was to be expected that the FPÖ would win, but I did not expect that the ÖVP would lose so much,” said Hubert Stock (ÖVP), mayor of Werfen. There the FPÖ wins 5.99 percentage points, while the ÖVP loses 6.83 percentage points. He is surprised by the great loss – nationally and also in Werfen.

But not only the Blue achieved success in the state elections. The result of the KPÖ Plus is also impressive in the Pongau communities. In the largely black district, the communists achieved 6.71 percent. Goldegg is one of the few communities to win black voters under local chief Hannes Rainer. “That speaks for the team,” said the ÖVPler. While Neos and Greens lose votes in Pongau, the Social Democratic strongholds in Bischofshofen, Mühlbach and Schwarzach defy the blue wonder.

FPÖ and ÖVP split only 21 votes in Lungau
The Lungau was actually considered an ÖVP stronghold. Usually the People’s Party left the competition far behind. That changed on Sunday. The PVV in Zederhaus received no less than 43.1 percent, an increase of 20.8 percent. The ÖVP bled and lost 15 percentage points, but still came in at 39.6 percent. On average, the FPÖ won 13.9 percentage points. The ÖVP lost 13.5 points on the counter. In total there are only 21 votes between black and blue. The SPÖ remained stable. The KPÖ achieved respectable successes in difficult terrain. The outcome of Neos and Greens borders on insignificance.