Victory in local elections
Austria: New election victory for communists in the city of Graz
Updated June 28, 2026 – 8:04 p.mReading time: 1 min.
Bucking the trend: In Austria, the right-wing FPÖ is in first place in nationwide surveys. In the second largest city in the Alpine country, however, a left-wing party dominates. Your recipe: proximity to citizens.
In Austria’s second largest city, Graz, the ruling Communists (KPÖ) have significantly expanded their position as the strongest party. According to the preliminary Election result In the Graz local elections, 35.6 percent voted for the left-wing party, an increase of around 7 percentage points.
This means that Graz – the capital of Styria – differs greatly from the general mood Austria ab: In nationwide surveys, the opposition right-wing FPÖ has long been well ahead of the conservative chancellor’s party ÖVP and all other parties.
It is the KPÖ’s second election victory in a row in Graz: in 2021, KPÖ politician Elke Kahr surprisingly won the local elections and pushed the ÖVP out of the mayor’s office. Kahr had already been a city councilor under ÖVP city governments.
KPÖ politicians donate salaries to those in need
In the city with around 350,000 inhabitants, the 64-year-old mayor Kahr focuses primarily on the issues of affordable housing, infrastructure and proximity to citizens. The elected representatives of the communistsmake a large part of their salary available to people in emergency situations.
In Germany recently The left decided to cap the diets of their members in the Bundestag and the European Parliament to a maximum of 5,300 euros gross per month and to hand over the rest to social funds.
Graz made international headlines a year ago. In June 2025, a 21-year-old caused a bloodbath at his former school. He shot ten people. He then killed himself.
