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Potsdam elects: Who will be the first female mayor? Pure excitement!
Election campaign in Potsdam: Severin Fischer (SPD) and Noosha Aubel in the race for the mayoral election on October 12, 2025.
Potsdam elects: Who will be the first female mayor? Pure excitement!
The decisive runoff election for the mayoral election in Potsdam took place on October 12, 2025. The election campaign was marked by a change of power after the previous mayor Mike Schubert (SPD) was voted out. The candidates Severin Fischer from the SPD and Noosha Aubel, who ran as an individual candidate, were the focus of voters. While Fischer promotes pragmatic politics, Aubel is confronted with the prospect of becoming the first woman to become mayor of a state capital if she can win the election. Information from rbb show that Aubel received 34 percent of the vote in the first round, while Fischer was well behind her with 17 percent.
The Left announced that it would not make any election recommendations after the departure of its candidate Dirk Harder (independent). This happened against the background of a citizens' letter from the SPD in which Fischer was advertised. The CDU and the AfD also decided not to make any election recommendations. This regional competitive situation makes the upcoming dates and panel discussions of the two remaining candidates even more important. While Aubel took part in discussions on health, Fischer visited the Potsdam environmental festival and a training campus.
Voting and electoral procedures
The final result of the election was determined on September 30, 2025 by the election committee of the state capital Potsdam. Returning officer Dr. Stefan Tolksdorf chaired the meeting in which the results of an election with 142,889 citizens eligible to vote were announced. A total of 79,240 voters took part in the election, which means a turnout of over 55 percent. The following distribution of valid votes resulted:
| candidate | party | Votes (% of valid votes) |
|---|---|---|
| Dr. Severin Fischer | SPD | 16.9% (13,390 votes) |
| Noosha Aubel | Individual election proposal | 34.0% (26,839 votes) |
| Clemens Viehrig | CDU | 16.5% (13,050 votes) |
| Chaled-Uwe Said | AfD | 13.0% (10,234 votes) |
| Dirk Harder | The left | 16.0% (12,661 votes) |
| Dr. Michael Reichert | BVB / FREE VOTER | 2.8% (2,203 votes) |
| Alexander Dietmar Wietschel | The party | 0.8% (625 votes) |
Since none of the candidates could achieve an absolute majority, voters were asked to make a decision in the runoff election. For the runoff election, around 27,200 postal voting documents were sent to Potsdam residents eligible to vote. The postal voting office was open until election day on October 10th, with applications having to be completed by 6 p.m. on election day.
Political framework conditions
The political landscape and gender distribution in local politics are important, especially with regard to the upcoming elections. Nationwide, the proportion of female mayors is only 13.5 percent, which illustrates the underrepresentation of women in higher political offices, according to a study by Women.Diversity.Politics shows. In Brandenburg, the election of Aubel could bring about a change that would be important beyond Potsdam.
Political opponents and voters are curious to see whether Aubel will bring about a change in the SPD's previous dominance in Potsdam, which might also result in greater consideration of female voices in city politics.