Six men and one woman: Who will be Potsdam's next mayor?

Six men and one woman: Who will be Potsdam's next mayor?

In Potsdam, the candidates were officially approved for the upcoming mayor election on July 18, 2025. A total of six men and a woman stand for election, who is to take place on October 12 at the latest. Former city head Mike Schubert (SPD) was voted out by a citizens' decision in May after he was accused of mismanagement and standstill, including an affair about free tickets for sporting events.

Wahls Manager Stefan Tolksdorf expressed that forecasting the election outcome was difficult, especially since the election campaign falls into the time of the summer vacation. In the last local election, the turnout was 53.0 percent, while it dropped below 40 percent in the runoff election. Politologist Werner Krause still expects an exciting choice, especially since Potsdam is traditionally considered a stronghold of the SPD.

candidates at a glance

The approved applicants are as follows:

• Severin Fischer (SPD) : The Berlin Economic State Secretary and SPD candidate since July 2023 has been requested for his election campaign and brings extensive experience from his time as head of the Berlin Senate Chancellery.
• Clemens Viehrig (CDU) : He is the co-group leader of the CDU and wants to take care of affordable living and better schools. He started after his predecessor Willo Göpel stepped down for health reasons.
• Dirk Harder (independent, for the left) : Harder, as a former head of the Potsdam City Youth Rings, was involved in participation and against an equalization.
• noosha Aubel (non -party) supported by the Greens, Volt and the other, she is currently active as a city councilor in Flensburg and was formerly a member of the educational in Potsdam.
• Chaled-Uwe Said (AfD) : Since 2017 in the AfD, he is committed to a remigration officer and a third Havel crossing.
• Michael Reichert (Free Voters) : He is the head of the two-man group of the Free Voters and is committed to efficient administration.
• Alexander Dietmar Wietschel (the party) : As a candidate for the satirical party, he wants to introduce a equestrian relay for the regulatory office.

The order of the candidates on the ballot papers is determined by the result of the last local elections, while the individual competitors are listed in alphabetical order. The deadline for submitting the candidacies ended on July 17, 2025.

important election information

election notifications for around 143,000 citizens entitled to vote will be sent from August 11th, and from the same date the application for postal voting documents can also be made. In addition to the successful approval of the applicants, five applicants failed due to the necessary number of valid support signatures, which was 112. The FDP has waived its own candidate, but plans to make an election recommendation.

The upcoming elections not only shape the future political orientation of Potsdam, but also the legal framework conditions of local elections in Germany, which are anchored in Article 28, Paragraph 1 of the Basic Law. This ensures the implementation of general, direct, free, equal and secret elections, which also include the elections of the (senior) mayors.

Voters in Potsdam are now faced with the task of giving their vote out of a colorful spectrum of candidates, while the political landscape of the city may change significantly.

Further information on the topic can be found on rbb24 , Tagesspiegel and BPB .