The Greens achieved success in all three state elections in September. Contrary to some assumptions, they made it into the state parliaments in Schwerin and Magdeburg, and there are chances for government participation in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin. Nevertheless, the Greens also emerged from the election campaigns damaged and burdened. The leaders of the federal party are particularly dissatisfied with the Berlin election campaign. The result achieved by mayoral candidate Werner Graf was 14.3 percent, far below expectations. The upcoming Senate formation offers explosives for the entire party.
In Magdeburg, despite a surprisingly good result, the Greens have no prospect of taking on government responsibility. The hope of being able to prevent a government led by the AfD with a vote for Green has not been fulfilled. Although the attempt to polarize the election on “Green or fascism” worked well for Green standards, the result did not come true.
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Nevertheless, Susan Sziborra-Seidlitz's election campaign gave the party a boost; hundreds of helpers came from all over the country to help at the campaign stands. The federal party advised, supported and financed as best it could. The candidate fit the country, and the election campaign was able to benefit from a narrative: prevent right-wing extremists. As a result, the party was enthusiastic about itself and conveyed that: 8.9 percent was the result.
Difficult stand against Schwesig - but a perspective of power
This could not be maintained equally in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The late appointed Bundestag member Claudia Müller from the Greens was no match for the “woman against blue”, the incumbent SPD Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig. However, it is said in Berlin that it gave the campaign goal and direction, and was also heavily supported by the federal party.
In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the Greens narrowly escaped the fate of the CDU and are back in the state parliament with 5.7 percent. But they lost votes. The party remains weak in the northeast, but participation in government offers the chance to gain profile.
In Berlin, however, there was little that matched up: the weak candidacy of the team of Werner Graf and Bettina Jarasch was the result of intra-party trench and wing fighting. The rapid growth in membership in recent years has massively fueled the competition within the party for safe places and future offices, but has not led to greater connections with a potential electorate. Almost half of all young people under 34 voted for the left. The proportion of Greens among first- and second-time voters fell to eleven percent. The Greens lost their dominance to the left in all inner-city districts.
Even in Kreuzberg they were left behind by the left
It is now successful despite strong susceptibility to anti-Semitic Hamas propaganda, opposition to Ukraine aid and connections to the Arab clan system in Neukölln. The question of rising rents plays a special role here. Even in Kreuzberg, where the Greens once had a serial winner in Hans-Christian Ströbele, they were left far behind by the left. According to surveys, 37 percent of the Left believe that the rent and housing shortage can be alleviated. The Greens only have six percent. So Graf and Jarasch didn't get very far with their ingratiation with the left-wing expropriation course.
However, the duo made it clear on election evening that co-government was a top priority for both of them. Graf praised the collegial tone with the left and the SPD during the election campaign. Jarasch recalled the green campaign's promise of expropriation, which she wanted to support. “For us, expropriation is never the first choice,” said federal chairwoman Franziska Brantner coolly on Monday. Graf demanded a mechanism from the left on how to deal with anti-Semitism or clan cronyism, but remained vague. Just this much: “Two thin sentences in the coalition agreement are not enough.”
The federal party must view this development with concern. The effects of radicalized left-wing politics in the capital on their own nationwide reputation have been preoccupying chairmen Felix Banaszak and Brantner for days. After all, given the results of the House of Representatives election, no one will claim that the Greens could win with Berlin's mix of candidates and topics. For the second time in a row, the Greens have lost there, this time almost a quarter of their 2023 voters. With a candidate like Ricarda Lang and a high-profile election campaign, the party leadership is convinced that this would not have happened.
