Nils Naumann competed against an AfD candidate in Raguhn-Jeßnitz in Saxony-Anhalt – and lost. In an interview, he gets annoyed with the media.
The mayoral election in Raguhn-Jeßnitz is over. Hannes Loth, a member of the right-wing populist AfD, won. It is the party’s second local political victory within two weeks. A few days earlier, Robert Stuhlmann won the runoff election for the office of district administrator in Sonneberg, Thuringia.
In Raguhn-Jessnitz, non-party Nils Naumann took on Hannes Loth. He narrowly lost the election, with a total of 107 votes separating him from victory. Two days after the lost election, t-online spoke to Naumann and asked him about his opinion on the AfD’s election victory.
t-online: Mr Naumann, the election is over, your opponent from the AfD has won. How are you with that?
Nils Naumann: I feel very good. I’m glad the election is over and I can go about my normal life and spend time with my family.
What do you think of Mr. Loth as the election winner?
The election was a democratic process – and also a fair competition between the candidates. Everyone can form an opinion on the Internet about what both camps were doing in the background. As a party, the AfD had greater financial and human resources to support Mr. Loth’s election campaign – but I think the close result also speaks for me as a non-party candidate. At this point I would like to thank all voters from Raguhn-Jeßnitz, my family and my friends for their trust and support.
In the run-up to the election, there was quite a media hype about Mr. Loth. How do you rate that?
I’ve already told your colleagues that I don’t think that’s a good thing. On the one hand, of course, I understand that you want to report on what is happening here. But in the end, the media artificially pushed the AfD candidate up.
There was virtually no neutral reporting. I don’t want to whine, but most of the media – with the exception of the ‘Mitteldeutsche Zeitung’ – only reported about Mr. Loth and only printed his picture. Sometimes I took an hour for interviews and ended up appearing in a post for five seconds. Ultimately, the AfD election campaign was shaped here.
Do you really think that reporting is to blame for the AfD candidate’s victory?
That is difficult to say. In the end, it was just under two percent that separated us – that’s only 107 votes. However, the media carousel only really turned after the AfD candidate won in Sonneberg. Then the AfD federal leadership came to Raguhn-Jeßnitz, the Sonneberg district administrator was announced, there was bratwurst and beer for the citizens on AfD election campaign dates.
Now that’s a lot of speculation, but one can speculate that that was the decisive factor in the 100 votes he ultimately got more than I did. Nevertheless, I congratulate Hannes Loth on the election success and wish him all the best and that we in the city council make decisions for the benefit of the population.
Are you worried now that there is an AfD candidate in the mayoral post?
I just hope that there are no negative consequences for the lives of the citizens of Raguhn-Jeßnitz. There is no cooperation with the AfD at either the federal or state level.
So I’m wondering whether the parties from Saxony-Anhalt or the federal government want to work with us in Raguhn-Jeßnitz in the future. I also want to make it clear once again that my concerns are not because of Mr. Loth – but because of the behavior of the other parties towards the AfD.
Would you be concerned if the AfD were suddenly to appoint mayors or district administrators in many other municipalities?
No. That doesn’t concern me, I also live in Raguhn-Jeßnitz. I’m only worried about the cooperation of the other parties with the AfD, which has been categorically ruled out so far. But maybe the parties will surprise me and there will be a change in thinking.
