Political Strategies in Key German Elections

The Head of the Chancellery and SPD politician Wolfgang Schmidt, a close confidant of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, wants to recapture the direct mandate in Hamburg-Eimsbüttel, which the SPD lost to the Greens in 2021. The previous SPD candidate Niels Annen, Minister of State and Parliamentary State Secretary, will not run again. Schmidt, who has been a member of FC St. Pauli for over 30 years, was previously a referent, state councilor and state secretary under Scholz, also in the Grand Coalition...

Brandenburg's Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke links his political fate to an election victory of the SPD. Surveys see the AfD in the lead, but Woidke relies on his popularity. The SPD politician has been the head of government for over 10 years; his predecessor was Matthias Platzeck. In addition to the AfD, Sahra Wagenknecht's alliance as well as CDU top candidate Jan Redmann and AfD candidate Hans-Christoph Berndt are also running.