Election chaos in Simmering: New district deputy and mourning for school shooting victims

Election chaos in Simmering: New district deputy and mourning for school shooting victims

A new era in Simmering: Today, June 12, 2025, brings a breath of fresh air to the district. When the 60 district councilors were sworn in, which took place under the leadership of City Councilor Ulli Sima (SPÖ), an important chapter in the district's history was opened. Mayor Michael Ludwig represented the city on this important day.

In a moving gesture, a minute's silence was observed in memory of the victims of the tragic shooting spree in Graz. The reception after the meeting was canceled out of respect for those affected, underlining the seriousness of the incident.

Election mishap and new district vice president

A crucial moment of the meeting was the re-election of district leader Thomas Steinhart (SPÖ). This election was not without controversy, as a pledge from Ramona Miletič (SPÖ) was missing, which resulted in a repeat election. Ultimately, Steinhart received 42 yes votes, 14 no votes and one invalid ballot paper.

Daniel Eigner (FPÖ) moves to the chair of deputy district chairman. He was able to score points with 25 votes, but had to accept 30 votes against and two invalid votes. Ramona Miletič, on the other hand, had 39 approvals, but she was also confronted with 16 no votes and two invalid votes.

Commissions for the next five years

Another important decision was the formation of several commissions that will take responsibility for the next five years. These include, among other things, finance, construction, environment, allotment gardens, transport, culture, education and, now, a commission for citizen participation. The distribution of seats in these committees shows that the SPÖ received eight seats, the FPÖ six and the Greens one seat. NEOS, ÖVP and KPÖ/Links come away empty-handed.

To say goodbye to the outgoing district councilors, their colleagues threw bouquets of flowers into the race, which marked a warm farewell. The upcoming developments are particularly focused on Simmeringer Hauptstrasse, although the plans will only be presented in the fall and not at the beginning of July as originally planned.

The current developments in Simmering show that political elections and disputes can have an exciting influence on local events here too. In Graz e.g. B. the last district council elections took place on September 26, 2021, where the KPÖ became the party with the largest number of votes with an increase of 8.9% points and was able to expand its presence in many districts. In contrast, the SPÖ has defended its position in Simmering, while the FPÖ and Greens have a new challenge in the game for the commissions.

The political landscape remains exciting, and the coming months will show how the new composition works in both Simmering and Graz.

For more information about the events in Simmering and the election mishaps, take a look at the reporting from MyDistrict and for a historical context about Wikipedia.