Next Viennese state election explained

Election Name:Next Viennese state election
Country:Vienna
Flag Year:state
Type:parliamentary
Previous Election:2020 Viennese state election
Previous Year:2020
Next Year:Next
Ongoing:yes
Seats For Election:All 100 seats in the Gemeinderat and Landtag of Vienna

All 13 seats in the state government
Candidate1:Michael Ludwig
Party1:Social Democratic Party of Austria
Last Election1:46 seats, 41.6%
Candidate2:Gernot Blümel
Party2:Austrian People's Party (2017)
Last Election2:22 seats, 20.4%
Candidate3:Birgit Hebein
Party3:The Greens – The Green Alternative
Last Election3:16 seats, 14.8%
Candidate4:Christoph Wiederkehr
Party4:NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum
Last Election4:8 seats, 7.5%
Candidate5:Dominik Nepp
Party5:Freedom Party of Austria
Last Election5:8 seats, 7.1%
Mayor and Governor
Before Election:Michael Ludwig
Before Party:Social Democratic Party of Austria

The next Viennese state election is scheduled to be held in the Austrian state of Vienna in the autumn of 2025. However, an earlier election after a premature dissolution of the Gemeinderat and Landtag is possible.

Background

In the 2020 state election, the SPÖ under mayor Michael Ludwig was able to improve its 2015 result after the downward trend of the last elections and again became the strongest party with 41.6%. The Greens under Birgit Hebein also improved and achieved their best result so far in Vienna with 14.8%. The NEOS party under Christoph Wiederkehr also recorded small gains and reached 7.5%. After suffering its worst result ever in 2015, the ÖVP was now able to more than double its share of the vote and received 20.4% of the vote; the party leader was former Federal Finance Minister Gernot Blümel. The FPÖ under Dominik Nepp lost more than two thirds of its vote share and reached 7.1%, its worst result since the state and municipal elections in 1983. The newly founded Team HC Strache – Alliance for Austria received 3.3% of the vote, which was below the electoral threshold, and thus failed to get any seats, as did the small parties LINKS with 2.1%, the Beer Party with 1.8%, and SÖZ with 1.2%. Other small parties played no significant role.[1]

In 2020, a total of 1,133,010 people were eligible to vote, of whom 597,027 were women and 535,983 men.[2] Voter turnout fell sharply to 65.27%, but this was still a higher turnout than in the 2005 state election, which had the lowest voter turnout to date with 60.81%. The share of postal votes reached a new high of 28.34% in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.[3]

After exploratory talks between the mayoral party SPÖ with the ÖVP, the Greens and NEOS, the SPÖ surprisingly decided to start coalition negotiations with the NEOS instead of the previous coalition partner, the Greens.[4] A coalition with the ÖVP was rejected due to little agreement on topics.[5] A coalition with the FPÖ was rejected outright by the SPÖ.[6]

On 16 November 2020, the first contents of the new coalition agreement were presented.[7] On 24 November 2020, Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) was re-elected as mayor with 60 out of 100 votes – 54 of them from the new coalition – and the new city government was sworn in by Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen.[8]

A 5% threshold applies to state and municipal elections in Vienna. In the past, the NEOS have campaigned for lowering it to 3%.[9]

Opinion polling

Polling firm/ClientFieldwork dateSample
size
SPÖÖVPGrüneNEOSFPÖKPÖBIERMFGOthersLead
Market/DER STANDARD6–12 Aug 202477136151091937117
IFDD/W2424–27 Jun 20241,00036121281947217
IFDD/W2421–26 Mar 20241,00036111182148115
IFDD/W2414–19 Dec 20231,02637111182137216
Unique Research/HEUTE2–5 Oct 2023813351088233123112
IFDD/WH Media3–5 Jun 20231,00040131172036020
IFDD/WH Media1–7 Mar 20231,0004113117206221
IFDD/WH Media25–29 Nov 20221,000421197198423
IFDD/WH Media5–9 Sep 20221,00042111081682323
TCS-Heuritsch/n.a.Jun 20221,0004710108184322
IFDD/WH Media25–28 Apr 20221,25047111091453121
IFDD/Kronen Zeitung21–25 Feb 20228004612981464123
OGM/Kurier22–24 Feb 202280247131181333219
Market/DER STANDARD[10] 3–7 Feb 20228054614131093528
IFDD/WH Media/W2412–16 Dec 20221,2504512109141031
IFDD/Kronen Zeitung4–9 Oct 20211,000451311916629
Triple M Matzka/W2419–27 Aug 20211,0044515111115330
Peter Hajek/SPÖ Wien16–20 Jul 2021800451610915529
Triple M Matzka/W2427 May–4 Jun 20211,0184615111113431
IFDD/Kronen Zeitung15–22 Apr 2021803461691014530
Triple M Matzka/W2426 Mar–5 Apr 20211,0144616111113330
Research Affairs/TZ Österreich6–8 Apr 2021500451791013628
Unique Research/SPÖ Wien19–25 Feb 202180046199912527
Triple M Matzka/W245–14 Jan 20211,009441812912526
OGM/Kurier18–19 Nov 2020800431913108724
2020 state electiondata-sort-value="2015-10-11" 11 Oct 202041.620.414.87.57.12.11.84.58.8

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Vienna Overview . 2023-03-22 . de.
  2. Web site: Vienna Election 2020: 1,494 polling stations for 1,362,789 voters . 2023-03-22 . de.
  3. Web site: Vienna Overview Postal Voting . 2023-03-22 . de.
  4. Web site: 2020-10-27 . Viennese SPÖ enters into coalition negotiations with Neos . 2023-03-22 . de.
  5. Web site: 2020-10-21 . After exploratory talks: De facto rejection of red-turquoise in Vienna . 2023-03-22 . de.
  6. Web site: 2020-11-16 . Choice of partner with consequences for the Confederation . 2023-03-22 . de.
  7. Web site: 2020-10-13 . Red-pink coalition presents first content . 2023-03-22 . de.
  8. Web site: New city government is sworn in . https://web.archive.org/web/20201124080123/https://wien.orf.at/stories/3077291/ . 2023-03-22 . 2020-11-24 . de.
  9. Web site: 2015-12-02 . Neos want to lower barrier clause for Vienna City Council . 2023-03-22 . de.
  10. Web site: Vienna polls, @Wahlen_AT . 2023-05-12 . de.