Vienna heads to the polls on 27 April 2025, when 1,109,936 citizens will be entitled to choose the city’s next mayor and council. At the same time, a record 611,000 residents of voting age — 35.6 % of all Viennese over 16 — are barred from voting because they lack Austrian citizenship, a share campaigners call “half‑democracy.” The collision of unprecedented disenfranchisement and predicted low turnout frames a five‑way race between incumbent Michael Ludwig (SPÖ), Karl Mahrer (ÖVP), Dominik Nepp (FPÖ), Judith Pühringer (Greens), and the NEOS duo Selma Arapović, who together still dominate every poll ahead of Sunday’s vote​

Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ)

Candidate: Michael Ludwig (current mayor)

• • Affordable‑life package: puts Ludwig’s record front and centre, promising to keep Vienna’s “big four”—education, affordable housing, good jobs, and social cohesion—at the heart of city policy.

  • Smart‑City Transformation Fund: new municipal investment vehicle to co‑finance climate‑tech, mobility, energy, and life‑science start‑ups and protect Vienna’s lead as Austria’s economic engine.

  • Job-Offensive 18 Plus: follows the successful ’50 Plus’ model and pays companies to hire young adults, addressing the post-pandemic youth job gap.

  • “Gemeindebau(t)” renewal drive: more than €1 bn for new and renovated municipal flats, safeguarding Vienna’s world‑famous social‑housing stock.

Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP)

Candidate: Karl Mahrer

• • 1,500 extra police, a City Watch & more CCTV: centerpiece of a strict “zero‑tolerance” security plan to reclaim “no‑go zones”.

  • Integration reset: compulsory German language instruction before school, mandatory kindergarten attendance, and sanctions for parents who disregard language rules.

  • Lobau Tunnel & “common‑sense” mobility: finish the long‑stalled motorway tunnel and end what the party calls “ideological car‑expulsion”.

  • Trim Vienna’s social benefits to the national standard and shift welfare from cash to activation so “work once again pays”.

Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ)

Candidate: Dominik Nepp

• • Campaign motto “Five good years for Vienna – Safe. Fair. Now more than ever.” stresses cost‑of‑living relief aimed at working Austrians, not recent migrants.

  • “Vienna Bonus” for police (€1,500 over five years), € 2,000 one‑off for pensioners, and higher pay for nurses—financed by cuts to benefits for non‑citizens.

  • Strict welfare nationalism: demands priority access to all social programmes for Austrian citizens and permanent residents.

  • Corona inquiry committee in the city parliament, plus a hard‑line law‑and‑order narrative linking crime to immigration.

The Greens – Die Grünen

Candidate: Judith Pühringer

• • 100,000 new trees by 2030 (roughly one for every child born in Vienna) to cool the city and combat heat islands.

  • 35,000 additional affordable flats in the next five‑year term, financed by re‑earmarking housing subsidies.

  • Tougher action against right‑wing and Islamist extremism, plus a weapons ban in busy public spaces.

  • Re-prioritise spending: scrap the €150m subsidy for the planned indoor arena and channel the money into climate and social programmes.

NEOS – The New Austria & Liberal Forum

Candidate: Selma Arapović

• • “Education above all” – Wi‑Fi, modern equipment and a city‑wide roll‑out of school nurses & extra psychosocial staff; a “Democracy School” and EU study trips for pupils.

  • “Mission German” – universal early‑childhood language support and sanctions if parents ignore integration duties.

  • Minimum security reform: Replace cash with means-tested in-kind support and push for a nationally uniform benefit cap.

  • Urban safety package: “Light Paths” (enhanced street lighting), a Vienna police bonus, and additional security staff on nighttime public transport.