Sternberg's election victory with shadow: unfair election campaign in focus!
Sternberg's election victory with shadow: unfair election campaign in focus!
Parchim, Deutschland - On May 11, 2025, Stefan Sternberg (SPD) again won the district administrator in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district with 58 percent of the votes. But the success remains accompanied by sharp criticism, which is primarily directed against the processes of his election campaign. According to the North German Radio (NDR), the election campaign was classified as unfair, with political opponents primarily criticizing the use of testimonials by Sternberg. These supportive personalities, including the Mayor of Boizenburg Rico Reicht (left) and the mayor of Balo, Kriemhild Kant, gave the election campaign a special imprint.
In the run-up to the election, Sternberg relied on an aggressive advertising strategy that aimed at large posters and a pronounced social media appearance. He was also supported by prominent people such as Jörg Klingohr, the managing director of the Hotel Golchener Hof, and the Brigaderal a.d. Gerd Kropf, both with a clear economic connection to the district. These links have triggered concerns among political opponents because they showed potential influence on the choice.criticism and economic connections
The allegations are aimed primarily at the fact that Sternberg had a greater scope in the election campaign by supporting Klingohr and Kopf. From 2020 to 2024, Klingohr received around 60,000 euros for services from the district budget, and the district also transferred 75,600 euros for the use of the Golchener Hof, where district sessions took place during the pandemic. Kropfs companies, FMB leadership and management consultancy, received around 110,000 euros for advice in disaster protection between 2022 and 2024.
Sternberg himself rejected the allegations as absurd and emphasized that his connections to the supporters were generally known. He vigorously rejected the allegation of a competitive disadvantage and made it clear that there were no economic connections between his office and the personalities mentioned in the 2025 election year. Nevertheless, antagonism remains, since the CDU and green critical voices expressed. The CDU district chairman Wolfgang Waldmüller found quiet words of criticism, while the green candidate Philipp Lübbert referred to a "gray area" that could arise from the lack of transparency in economic relationships.
The role of transparency
Transparency International (Ti) has also pointed out the problem. While the company is not fundamentally against the election advertising of entrepreneurs, it warns a clear disclosure of the connections between Sternberg and its supporters. This could help to ensure equal opportunities and to strengthen trust in the eligibility.
The SPD itself evades the theory of inequality and argues that the budget for the election campaign was not more expensive than seven years ago, although it remained in the upper five -digit range. The key phase of an election campaign, large number of phases, from the preparation time to the final phase, plays a central role here. The media presence can also decide whether the electorate can be mobilized.
Stefan Sternberg will remain in office for the next seven years and thus drive his goals with a political agenda that is shaped by the shared opinion of citizens and political opponents. Even if the result is a clear mandate at first glance, the question remains in the room how the situation mentioned will affect the political work and the trust of citizens in the administration.
The district administrator has not yet responded to repeated inquiries from the press and is therefore still under observation, while the political waves gradually smoothed after the election.
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| Ort | Parchim, Deutschland |
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