The Frankfurt SPD has now officially nominated Mike Josef as their candidate for the mayoral election on March 5th.

At a party conference on Saturday, 96.9 percent of the delegates voted for the long-standing party chairman, who as the city councilor is responsible for planning, housing and sport.

199 votes were cast.

193 delegates voted for Josef, five voted no, there was one abstention.

Rainer Schulz

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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Josef, 39, who was born in Syria and grew up in Ulm, said Frankfurt openly welcomed him twenty years ago and has become his "hometown".

He wants to give something back to the city as mayor.

He outlined his program based on four main topics.

He wants to maintain economic stability because that is the basis for social policy.

He wants to strengthen the "Frankfurt mix" of the population so that everyone can continue to afford to live in Frankfurt.

As the third key issue, Josef named climate protection, which should not be at the expense of tenant protection.

He outlined his fourth topic with the catchphrase "movement and encounter" and promoted investments in sport and culture.

Josef not only received support from many speakers in the hall, but also from the federal government.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) spoke up with a video message: Frankfurt is a successful, modern and social city that should be managed under the responsibility of the SPD.

Josef also stands for a "restart" in the town hall.

“Mike knows where to start.

He burns for this task.”

The SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert had also traveled to the party conference from Berlin.

In his speech, he created a suspenseful arc from the Bundestag elections, which the SPD surprisingly won to the mayoral election: Many people in the Main metropolis also benefited from the election promises kept, such as raising the minimum wage, housing benefit and child benefit.

Mike Josef is “the best you can muster and who can lead the city.

His heart is in the right place and he knows what the majority in the city needs for a good future," said Kühnert.