GLP politician Tiana Moser likely to win seat in Zurich Council of States
Published: Sunday, Nov 19th 2023, 12:20
Updated At: Sunday, Nov 19th 2023, 12:23
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GLP National Councillor Tiana Angelina Moser is clearly ahead in the battle for the second seat in the Council of States in Zurich. According to initial projections, she will make the leap into the Council of States, leaving SVP challenger Gregor Rutz behind.
According to the projections, Moser will receive 202,000 votes, while Rutz is well behind with 156,000 votes. Although the first projection by the statistical office of the canton of Zurich is still subject to certain uncertainties, the lead is so large that nothing will change the outcome of the race.
Moser doubles number of votes
Rutz therefore received practically the same number of votes as in the first round. He was unable to mobilize additional voters. Moser, on the other hand, almost doubled her number of votes; these are likely to have come from supporters of the SP and Greens, among others, who - unlike in the first ballot - were no longer able to list their own candidates on the ballot paper.
SP Councillor of States Daniel Jositsch had already won re-election in the first round of voting. The second seat, which became vacant following the resignation of Ruedi Noser (FDP), remained unfilled on October 22.
Various candidates withdrew after the first round of voting. The FDP also withdrew its candidate from the race in order to join forces in the conservative camp. National Councillor Regine Sauter had achieved more votes than Moser, but was well behind Rutz.
A camp election campaign
In the second election campaign, Moser was supported not only by her GLP party but also by the EPP, SP and Greens. Rutz had the support of the SVP and FDP. The Centre Party had decided to abstain from voting, as the election campaign had "very quickly developed from a personal election to a camp election campaign" - and it would not get involved in polarizing camp battles between left and right.
After a strong mobilization, Moser is now expected to be elected to the Council of States. The election of the 44-year-old, who is supported by the left, is a bitter defeat for the SVP and FDP; the "undivided standing vote of the left" would be fatal for Zurich as a center of business and industry, the FDP announced last week and campaigned for Rutz.
As the initial results show, the SVP candidate scored more votes in rural areas than the GLP candidate, as expected. However, his lead there was too small. But Moser is already ahead of Rutz in lakeside communities such as Meilen and Uetikon am See. And the large cities of Winterthur and Zurich, where no results are yet available, are likely to be clearly in Moser's favor.
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