Simon Stocker (SP) wins seat in Council of States from Thomas Minder
Published: Sunday, Nov 19th 2023, 14:50
Updated At: Sunday, Nov 19th 2023, 14:53
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The Schaffhausen Social Democrats are sending a member of the Council of States to Bern for the first time since 1991. Simon Stocker won the seat of non-party member Thomas Minder in the second round of voting.
Stocker received 15,769 votes, while Minder received 13,504 votes, according to the Schaffhausen state chancellery. The turnout was 67.2 percent.
The 42-year-old Stocker achieved significantly more votes than Minder, particularly in the city of Schaffhausen, where around half of the canton's population lives. Stocker was a member of the Schaffhausen City Council from 2013 to 2020, when he was still a politician on the Alternative List. He works as an independent expert on ageing.
The 62-year-old Minder is an entrepreneur and became nationally known as the initiator of the "rip-off" initiative. He was elected to the Council of States in 2011. Although he joined the SVP parliamentary group after his election, he remained independent.
It was clear after the first round of voting that it would be close for Minder, as he received fewer votes than Stocker. Only Hannes Germann (SVP), the current member of the Council of States, achieved an absolute majority in the first round of voting.
FDP row ahead of the second round of voting
The FDP subsequently withdrew its own candidate and recommended Minder for election - after having contested his seat with its own candidates in both the 2015 and 2019 elections. This caused a veritable row within the party in recent weeks. Minder could not count on the united support of the FDP electorate.
The SVP, in turn, also recommended Minder in the second ballot. Nevertheless, it was not enough. With Stocker's election, the Schaffhausen Social Democrats now have a member of the Council of States for the first time since Esther Bührer stepped down in 1991.
©Keystone/SDA
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