SPD state executive unanimously nominates Faeser as top candidate for state elections

Nancy Faeser can count on the full support of the SPD state executive for her top candidacy in Hesse. At the meeting of the party leadership in Friedewald, she again described her candidacy for the office of prime minister as a “big matter of the heart”.

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The state executive of the SPD unanimously nominated Nancy Faeser as the top candidate for the state elections on October 8th. After months of speculation, she announced on Thursday in Berlin that the Federal Minister of the Interior wants to stand as a candidate in Hesse – one day before the party’s Hesse summit in Friedewald in East Hesse.

Faeser described the top candidate as “a big matter of the heart”. “Hessen is my homeland,” said the 52-year-old, who was born in Bad Soden (Main-Taunus) and grew up in Schwalbach am Taunus. She was not surprised by the sometimes violent criticism from the other parties. It is a democratic matter of course to run for office. She was “perhaps a little surprised” that the criticism was more severe “when a woman does it”. She rarely heard men ask how to combine campaigning with office.

Faeser wants to remain Federal Minister of the Interior

The chairwoman of the Hessian SPD had previously informed the employees of the Federal Ministry of the Interior of her decision in a letter. The letter is available to HR. “I am the first woman to head the Federal Ministry of the Interior – and I want to be the first female Prime Minister in Hesse,” she writes. Faeser wants to comment on her candidacy before the SPD-Hesse summit in Friedewald (Hersfeld-Rotenburg) on ​​Friday.

She wants to “continue to fill out her position as Federal Minister of the Interior with full force and passion,” said Faeser on Thursday. She has the full backing of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). Faeser emphasized that should she not become Prime Minister in Hesse, she would continue to fulfill her responsibilities as Federal Minister of the Interior.

CDU in the hr Hessen trend in front

An election victory for the SPD is anything but certain due to the strong competition from the CDU and the Greens. In the hr Hesse trend in autumn, the CDU had come to 27 percent, the Greens and SPD each to 22 percent.

“In a democracy, it goes without saying that candidates also run for elections from offices,” stressed Faeser. “I handle it just like Olaf Scholz and Armin Laschet in the federal election campaign, like Angela Merkel in many previous election campaigns and like all prime ministers who are running for elections this year,” said Faeser.

As an example, she also cited the former CDU Federal Interior Minister Manfred Kanther, who ran in 1995 as the top candidate in Hesse in the state elections. Kanther lost and then remained Minister of the Interior.

“Too serious times” for a long election campaign

“The times are too serious for a long election campaign anyway,” said Faeser, referring to the Russian war of aggression against the Ukraine. In addition, she wants to continue to implement domestic political reforms, as announced in the coalition agreement.

There had already been speculation in the past few days about a possible candidacy for Faeser. For her decision, Faeser received strong opposition from Hesse. With the exception of their own party, the parliamentary groups were not very surprised, but skeptical that their work as Federal Minister of the Interior will not be neglected during the election campaign.

Faeser: “Hesse needs a breath of fresh air”

In Hesse, the Social Democrats have been in opposition since 1999. The Christian Democrats are entering the race with the incumbent Prime Minister, Boris Rhein. In the case of the Greens, which have been co-governing since 2014, everything is headed towards Economics Minister Tarek Al-Wazir, but the official choice is still pending. Stefan Naas is the top candidate for the FDP and Robert Lambrou for the AfD. The Left Party has not yet nominated a top candidate for the state elections.

Faeser said on Thursday that after 25 years of CDU government, Hesse needs a breath of fresh air. “We want good working conditions and fair wages. We want the best starting opportunities for all children, an affordable life from rent to public transport, consistent climate protection and respect and security for all people, no matter where they come from or how much they earn”, she counted.