
At 7:00 a.m., all 215 polling stations in Linz opened for the mayoral election. A total of 151,668 eligible voters are invited to cast their votes by 4:00 p.m. Seven candidates are in the running. The SPÖ (Social Democratic Party of Austria) must defend the office it has held since 1945. However, following the resignation of Mayor Klaus Luger due to the Brucknerhaus scandal, this is far from a “sure thing” for their candidate, Acting Vice Mayor Dietmar Prammer.
The election is particularly noteworthy as it is the first vote following the collapse of negotiations for a possible black-red-pink coalition at the federal level and the commencement of blue-black coalition talks. This makes any election forecast highly uncertain. It is considered a given that a runoff election will take place on January 26, as neither Prammer nor his competitors—Vice Mayor Martin Hajart (ÖVP), City Councilor Eva Schobesberger (Greens), City Councilor Michael Raml (FPÖ), and City Council members Georg Redlhammer (Neos), Gerlinde Grünn (KPÖ), and Lorenz Potocnik (Linz+)—are expected to achieve an absolute majority in the first round. Of the four candidates represented in the city senate, only Schobesberger had previously run for the position of mayor in 2021.
Eligible voters include all those who, as of the cut-off date of October 22, held Austrian or EU citizenship, had their primary residence in Linz, turned 16 by election day, and were not barred from voting. The early election was triggered by Luger’s resignation, which followed his lies regarding the Brucknerhaus scandal. He is currently under investigation by the public prosecutor’s office on suspicion of embezzlement.
Typically, mayoral and municipal council elections in Upper Austria are held concurrently with state elections every six years. If a mayor leaves office before the final third of their term, a new election must be held. Consequently, Luger’s successor will serve only a shortened term of two and a half years, with regular elections scheduled for 2027. Regardless of which party wins the mayoralty, the power dynamics in the municipal council will remain unchanged.
In the municipal council, the SPÖ remains the strongest party with 22 seats, followed by the ÖVP with 11, the Greens with 10, and the FPÖ with 9. Neos, KPÖ, and Linz+ each hold 2 seats. Meanwhile, MFG (2 seats) and Wandel (1 seat) have not put forward mayoral candidates for this election.