A former Hamburg mayor, Ole von Beust of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), does not foresee a significant windfall for the Hamburger CDU in the upcoming Bürgerschaftswahlen due to the Union’s success in the Bundestagswahl. While national themes may have an impact in Hamburg, von Beust believes that the significance of the migration issue is “rather low”. He suggests that more relevant local issues, such as the future of the port, inner city safety, transportation and housing, will dominate the election. Von Beust also praises the incumbent First Mayor, Peter Tschentscher of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), stating that he is “not brilliant, but also not a catastrophe” and that there is no reason for a vote of no confidence. The former mayor attributes the city’s conservative nature, saying that the current government will likely be retained unless it is “catastrophically” bad. He predicts that the CDU, led by Dennis Thering, will make a significant jump in the polls, but a victory is considered “almost impossible” by von Beust.
CDU’s Big Leap Forward, But Change in the Air?
