Cindy Hahn elected Brandenburg Greens chair with 70 of 138 votes

Third ballot decides the race

The Brandenburg Greens elected Cindy Hahn as state chair on Saturday, 14 November, at a party congress in Schönefeld. The race was close and went to a third ballot, where Hahn received 70 of 138 valid votes, about 51 percent. Her rival, Lirije Nitaj-von Petersdorff, a former office head of former health minister Ursula Nonnemacher, received 66 votes. Hahn led in all three rounds, while Surani Loibl dropped out after the first ballot and Viviane Triems after the second.

Cindy Hahn70

Lirije Nitaj-von Petersdorff66

Cindy Hahn

70 votes

Lirije Nitaj-von Petersdorff

66 votes

Data from the article text

The vacancy

Juliana Meyer stepped down as state chair after only one year for personal reasons, which made the new election necessary. Clemens Rostock remains co-chair. The Greens fell out of the Brandenburg state parliament at the 2024 state election, and the party now aims to return at the 2029 election.

From Schwedt to Berlin and back

Hahn was born in 1978 and grew up in the refinery town of Schwedt during the GDR era. After her Abitur she left, because she could not find an apprenticeship place. Eleven years later she returned from Berlin, where she worked as a trained bank clerk. Before the vote she served as the state party's spokesperson for women's policy.

Stated priorities

Hahn said the Greens must be seen as the political force that prepares Brandenburg for the future, and she acknowledged the party's weak position in parliament.

“We are noticeably missing from the current state parliament.”

She argued that the party must reach people better to shape the state again, and that this does not work from a desk.