KPÖ consolidates its power in Graz: Kahr announces talks with all parties

A coalition with the Greens is arithmetically possible based on the current standings. Kahr and her previous vice mayor, Judith Schwentner of the Greens, had described their joint term in office during the election campaign as a „Zwischenbilanz" and expressed the wish to continue working together. Kahr and Schwentner aim to continue the government. „Eine Koalition mit den Grünen geht sich rein rechnerisch aus", it was said from the KPÖ.

Possible coalitions and majorities

A cooperation with the ÖVP is also arithmetically possible. The KPÖ and ÖVP together would have more than 31 seats and thus a comfortable majority. The KPÖ and Greens together would come to 25 seats, a narrow overhang mandate of one seat. The Graz municipal council consists of 48 members; a simple majority is required for the election of the mayor and the vice mayor. The constituent session with the mayoral election must take place within 60 days after election day in accordance with the Graz city statute.

Kahr stated that she would not commit to a coalition on election day, as such decisions in her party are made collectively. „Heute ganz sicher nicht, weil wir so etwas kollektiv bei uns besprechen", she said on ZiB2. Party executive board meetings are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. Internally, August 27 has been communicated in the city hall as the date for the mayoral election. Kahr also emphasized that she wanted to continue to pursue „soziale, umweltgerechte Politik".

SPÖ defeat and search for reorientation

The SPÖ suffered another historic decline in the election. The party lost two of its previous four seats and no longer has club status in the municipal council. Lead candidate Doris Kampus, who had taken over the Graz SPÖ from Michael Ehmann in March 2023, ran as lead candidate for the first time this year and had declared a „Gesundheitskrise" for Graz during the election campaign. On election night she stated: „Wir haben auf die Themen Gesundheit und Pflege gesetzt und ein klares inhaltliches Angebot gemacht, das nicht angenommen wurde." The Styrian club chairman Hannes Schwarz recommended a „kompletten Neustart" in the Kleine Zeitung.

The decline of the SPÖ in Graz goes further back. It began after the withdrawal of long-time mayor Alfred Stingl in 2003. After Stingl, there had been ten different party chairpersons in Graz, it was said. In 2017, the former mayoral party was voted out of the city senate, in which it had been represented uninterruptedly since 1945. The state SPÖ has been in opposition since the 2024 state elections.

Voter shifts in favor of the KPÖ

The KPÖ also benefited from voter shifts in the election. According to a voter flow analysis by the SORA Institute for ORF, the KPÖ gained around 2,000 votes from former FPÖ voters as well as 1,000 votes from former ÖVP voters. 31 percent of KPÖ municipal council voters had still voted SPÖ in the 2024 state election. In addition, Kahr and her team mobilized 9,000 eligible voters who had not gone to the polls in the 2024 state election. More than half of the SPÖ voters from the 2024 state election now voted KPÖ, according to the analysis.

The share of non-voters from the 2024 state election who also did not participate in the municipal council election was considerable: almost a third of FPÖ state election voters did not take part in the municipal council election, and 2,500 former SPÖ state election voters stayed away from the municipal council election. The KPÖ was able to more than triple its election result compared to the 2024 state election. For comparison: the SPÖ had achieved around 20.7 percent (about 26,000 votes) in the 2024 Styrian state election in Graz.

Debt, investments and criticism

During the election campaign, Kahr had drawn up an investment balance sheet of her term in office. She said: „In den vergangenen fünf Jahren habe man in sozialen Wohnbau und öffentliche Infrastruktur investiert." At the same time, she pointed to a high debt burden: „1,6 Milliarden Euro habe man übernommen", she said about the city's finances. The SORA voter flow analysis was published after its broadcast on ORF. ZiB2 anchor Marie-Claire Zimmermann mentioned in the interview that the city had two billion euros in debt. Asked about the criticism of vacancies in the inner city, Kahr replied: „Man muss sich anschauen, wer so etwas sagt und warum.

Kahr had also called on the state and federal government during the election campaign to support the expansion of local public transport in Graz. „Alleine wird das die Stadt Graz nicht schaffen", she said. During the election campaign, Kahr and Schwentner had described their joint term in office as an interim assessment in order to outline the substantive priorities for the coming period. Kahr announced that she would maintain the focus on social housing construction and public infrastructure while at the same time making structural shifts.

Setting the course for the coming term in office

Specifically, the mayor promised: „Diesen Schwerpunkt werde es weiterhin geben, verspricht die Bürgermeisterin, gleichzeitig ein Auge auf Doppelgleisigkeiten zu haben und 'strukturelle Verschiebungen' vorzunehmen." Structural shifts should occur „ohne dass es der Bevölkerung schadet". With regard to the election outcome, Kahr said: „Und jetzt ist es so ausgegangen, wie es ist, und wir sind sensationell gestärkt worden".

The highlight of the election campaign was a comparison picked up on election Sunday. Following a football match between Austria and Algeria and the well-known remark by commentator Daniel Warmuth, ORF commented: „Um es mit Österreich-Algerien-Kommentator Daniel Warmuth zu sagen: Bist Du deppert!" On election Sunday, almost 41 degrees were recorded in Vienna; in Graz the temperature was also high.

The FPÖ ran with René Apfelknab as its top city candidate. The FPÖ governs at state level in Styria. Substantive differences with city politics during the election campaign included the reduction of parking spaces: „1500 Parkplätze in der Stadt weniger als noch vor einigen Jahren", part of the population criticized. This reduction „gefällt nicht allen, die in der Stadt Handel treiben, arbeiten, wohnen und sie besuchen. Leerstand wird beanstandet, Graz sei dadurch weniger attraktiver geworden." The state SPÖ, which at that time was still part of the state government, had disapproved of this step.

The KPÖ heads the health department in Graz. The election campaign had shown that the city is under pressure to maintain its quality of life and economic attractiveness while continuing to pursue social and ecological policies. Kahr said on ZiB2: „Wir sind sensationell gestärkt worden". In the ORF election studio, the KPÖ leadership explained that 35 percent for the KPÖ in Graz was „sensationell" and that exploratory talks would now begin.

Administratively, Graz, together with Lower Austria, is the last federal state of Austria that does not have a direct mayoral election. The mayor is elected by the municipal council; separate rules apply in Vienna. The final result is expected on Monday afternoon. On Sunday evening, the preliminary result was almost complete; around 4,000 absentee ballots were still outstanding. The article was written by Doris Priesching and is dated 29.6.2026.