The delegates at the ninety-third party conference of the Main-Kinzig-CDU Max Schad took away one concern.

The member of parliament did not have to worry about the result of the vote that evening, because his election as the new district chairman was actually only a matter of form.

Katja Leikert did not stand again after two terms in office, she had proposed Schad as her successor and there was no opposing candidate in sight.

Luise Glaser-Lotz

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for the Main-Kinzig district.

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But Schad was still missing a Mother's Day present.

The large bouquet of flowers that was handed to him for the successful election came at just the right time.

The 39-year-old new father announced that he would pass it on to his mother after accepting the first congratulations with a smile.

church choir singers and politicians

This announcement made one or the other lady in the group of delegates smile.

Nevertheless, everyone was happy that the selection in the run-up to the party conference and the election of a new district chairman in the Langenselbolder Klosterberghalle went so smoothly and pragmatically.

With Max Schad, the CDU association in the Main-Kinzig district has put a man at the top who is really familiar with politics in general and with Christian Democrats in the district in particular, because he experienced its ups and downs first hand.

Privately, he practices as a church choir singer, while his professional life has so far been dominated by politics: Schad studied political science and sociology, is a member of the federal executive board of the Junge Union and worked as office manager for Katja Leikert when she was already a member of the Bundestag.

Previously, he worked for the former CDU General Secretary Peter Tauber.

Schad is a member of the district council and heads the CDU parliamentary group in the city council in Großkrotzenburg.

In 2016 he applied to voters for the mayoral office.

He missed this goal, but then he managed to get into the state parliament three years later.

In constituency 40, which includes the municipalities of Bruchköbel, Freigericht, Gründau, Langenselbold and Schöneck, he narrowly defeated Christoph Degen from the SPD, who re-entered the Hessian state parliament via his party's state list.

Criticism of Berlin, praise for Hesse

In his introductory speech, Schad did not initially concentrate on politics in the district or in the state, but first directed his gaze to Berlin.

"With Merkel, there would not have been such a failure," he shouted into the hall when it came to scolding Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).

He ducked away during the Ukraine war.

Germany was once a proud international representative of Europe, but that is now over.

Scholz "fucked up on compulsory vaccination" and "ran the vaccination campaign against the wall".

According to Schad, things are going well in Hesse.

The successor to Prime Minister Volker Bouffier (CDU) has been settled.

Boris Rhein will soon be elected Prime Minister.

Schad promised the district association of the Union to take good care of the community in the future.

"My goal is for everyone to stay together," he said, promising to be as present in the circle as possible.

As has sometimes been heard, this is exactly what the party colleagues were missing with Katja Leikert.

From the beginning she had made it clear that she would not be present at every club party or other representative event, but to concentrate on the actual work.

received 90 percent of the votes

The delegates not only gave the candidate the bouquet, but also an excellent result with an approval rate of a good 90 percent.

Leikert could not show that in her two elections for district chairmen: In the first vote for chairwoman, she got a good 82 percent of the delegate votes.

At that time, her predecessor in this office, Johannes Heger, had failed to win the majority for his re-election.

Leikert then stepped in.

Two years later, however, only just under 60 percent of the delegates in the Bundestag constituency 180 trusted the political scientist with a doctorate.

After initial successes, it has often not been easy for her lately.

Leikert was not able to win the direct mandate again in her Bundestag constituency in the most recent election, surprisingly she was overtaken by the SPD candidate Lennard Oehl, a newcomer in the political business.

There were also conflicts within the party when the lists of candidates for the local elections were drawn up.

"We like to discuss the program and staff," she said, and asked the delegates to show more unity in the future.

The work of the grand coalition in the district council is also a success for the CDU, as is winning the mayoral elections in Bad Orb and Großkrotzenburg.

"We have shown that we can conquer town halls again," said the outgoing district chairwoman.

She will remain closely connected to the district association, promised Leikert, who also received a bouquet of flowers and friendly applause at the end.

The party congress thus proceeded pragmatically and without surprises.

But there was news: Second district councilor Winfried Ottmann will not run as a candidate for the CDU in the next district election.

Schad announced that the search for candidates would begin in good time.