Liederbach's mayor Eva Söllner (CDU) was confident at the beginning of the evening: “I am fully committed to Elmar,” she said.

Bociek had long since arrived in Sulzbach as the father of a young family.

Just half an hour after the polling stations closed, the prognosis of the Liederbach town hall chief had come true.

Sulzbach's mayor Elmar Bociek (CDU) was re-elected with 57.5 percent of the vote.

The non-party butcher Oliver Weber received 38.2 percent, the equally non-party David Kurzke received 4.4 percent of the vote.

The turnout was 49.3 percent.

Heike Lattka

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for the Main-Taunus-Kreis.

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The Sulzbach CDU parliamentary group chairman Matthias Brandt made it clear that the CDU grandees in the hall were not all so sure: he admitted that he had feared a runoff election in view of the competition.

Because Weber is a local man, and the days when the CDU with Herbert Uhrig as mayor still achieved dream results of more than 70 percent are unfortunately long gone.

“People want sensations,” agreed the former Main-Taunus district administrator and former Sulzbach mayor Berthold Gall (CDU).

The voters often no longer looked to see whether someone understood his administrative trade.

And finally, the Hessian finance minister Michael Boddenberg (CDU) is also a respectable butcher, he reminded.

"Mayor of Hearts"

Weber, who is not supported by any political group in the Sulzbach municipal council and who has no administrative experience, saw himself as a winner with his performance.

With this result, he feels like a “mayor of hearts,” he said.

In just 56 days of the election campaign, he had proven what proximity to the citizens meant.

Perhaps, according to Weber, his candidacy will encourage the incumbent to become a bit closer to the citizen in the future and not just limit himself to work in the town hall.

Bociek himself had calculated a result of around 60 percent for himself.

Ultimately, he was able to decide for himself all electoral districts with the exception of the inking plant - but he did not win this quarter last time either.

He will now continue to run the community with a steady hand and will continue to rely on communication with all parliamentary groups in the community councils in the event of changing majorities.

This style has proven itself in the past, which is why he wants to stick to it, said the re-elected mayor.

David Kurzke, who was a member of the district council for “The Party” and who had started as a non-party, was also satisfied with his result.

For someone who, like him, did not come to Sulzbach until 2019, the approval from the stand was to be assessed as positive, said Kurzke.

With his candidacy, he primarily wanted to prevent Bociek from going it alone.