After recent weak election results, Berlin’s SPD is counting on Steffen Krach as a glimmer of hope. He is running against incumbent mayor Kai Wegner (CDU). What priorities he set in the election campaign and how the party supports them.
Steffen Krach is the SPD Berlin’s leading candidate for the next House of Representatives elections. At the state party conference in Berlin-Friedrichshain, delegates unanimously elected the 46-year-old. Then there was a few minutes of applause. “I was overwhelmed,” Krach said. He has stated his goal before: “I want to work with you to take back Red City Hall from the CDU on September 20, 2026.”
The SPD’s state executive committee had proposed him as the top candidate in September. Krach was State Secretary for Science in Berlin between 2014 and 2021 and then regional president in Hanover. In the state parliamentary elections, he challenged mayor Kai Wegner of the CDU, who was the SPD’s junior partner.
Krach was seen as a glimmer of hope for Berlin’s SPD, which has had increasingly poor election results over the years. In the DPR re-election in February 2023, it only won 18.4 percent. This puts them well behind the CDU (28.2 percent) and only slightly ahead of the Green Party.
The Social Democratic Party demonstratively supported noise at the party conference. There was always a standing ovation for him. Several speakers expressly expressed their thanks for accepting the challenge. Words like “Just let it rip” were heard several times.
Bundestag member Annika Klose described it as “lucky”. SPD Parliamentary Group Chair Raed Saleh said if there was one person who could take back Red City Hall from Kai Wegner, it would be Steffen Krach.
Fellow head of state Nicola Böcker-Giannini called him a candidate “with experience and charisma” and addressed him directly: “Dear Steffen, now is the time to knock on the doors of Red City Hall and send Kai Wegner off the government bench.”
“We have achieved a lot,” said Social Senator Cansel Kiziltepe, referring to the SPD’s policies in recent years. “But we want more. More courage, more speed, more cohesion in this city. And that’s what Steffen Krach is fighting for.”
Wowereit demands leg room for top candidates
Former SPD Mayor Klaus Wowereit called on his party to give Krach some wiggle room. Ultimately, this is about winning over voters beyond the SPD’s own clientele.
Economics Senator Franziska Giffey added: “Steffen Krach can do it. And he can do it better than Kai Wegner is doing it right now.” In a mix of English and Berliner he added: “We can do it. And it will be fine, dear Steffen!” But he also warned: A top candidate can only be successful if he has the full support of his party and demands full support for the new frontman in the election campaign.
Behind this was also a scandal in Neukölln a week earlier: SPD Mayor Martin Hikel made headlines with his surprise announcement that he would no longer stand for election in 2026. Hikel justified this with what he considered a poor result in his election as the top candidate with 68.5 percent of the vote. Hikel – who is also chairman of Berlin’s second state – complained about insufficient support from his own party.
In a speech at the party conference that lasted nearly an hour and a half, Krach touched on topics ranging from clean playgrounds to internal security. He sees an urgent need to take action, especially regarding rental and housing policies, but also regarding family friendliness. Compliance with rent limits should be consistently monitored and the work of rent inspection offices should be further supported, he said.
Krach called for steep fines against unscrupulous landlords
He gets angry when tenants systematically charge excessive rent. He called for high fines in such cases. A clear message is also needed to the management of these companies. Systematic fraud also inevitably has criminal consequences for the people responsible.
Krach also sees a need to catch up with Berlin in terms of family friendliness. “I want Berlin to become the family metropolis of Europe,” he said. Family friendly means an affordable city where families on a budget can afford a good life for themselves and their children. said Accident. Regardless of whether they are single parents, patchwork families, men and women, queer families, small or large, they should have the opportunity.
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