Green Party president Lisa Mazzone will run for Geneva's Council of States in 2027

The announcement

Lisa Mazzone, the 38-year-old Green Party president from Geneva, announced in an interview published on Monday, 2 November 2026 by the Tamedia newspapers that she will stand in the 2027 federal elections. She wants to run for the Council of States, the upper house, and for the National Council, with both candidacies on the Greens' list. The Council of States is her main objective, and she says the chamber has shifted sharply to the right. She framed the bid around representation and climate policy:

“Geneva needs a green, feminine and progressive voice.”

A Geneva seat held by two men

Geneva's two Council of States seats are currently held by Carlo Sommaruga of the Social Democrats (SP), 67, and Mauro Poggia of the MCG, 67, who sits in the SVP group. Mazzone held a National Council seat from 2015 to 2019 and a Council of States seat from 2019 to 2023. She lost that seat in the 2023 federal elections, when Poggia ranked ahead of her and Sommaruga was re-elected. She lost that campaign to two older men, and she now argues that women, who make up half the population, are missing from Geneva's upper-house representation. Her career milestones are charted below.

Party course and goals

The Greens elected her party president in April 2024, and since then she has led an openly oppositional course, which has included a call for Environment Minister Albert Rösti to resign. She is the only president of a large Swiss party who does not sit in parliament, and she wants that to change. Her stated aims for the 2027 elections are to win additional Council of States seats and to pass the 10% mark in vote share. She also again claims a Green seat in the Federal Council. She said her 2019 to 2023 term showed she can find compromises, but that a progressive force only wins if it clearly asserts the values it defends.

Climate and other priorities

Mazzone ties her candidacy to climate policy. She says she wants to offer solutions to the climate crisis, defend Geneva's interests on rail and infrastructure, and continue the fight against sexist and sexual violence. She also demands a federal government that gives climate absolute priority. On the urgency of the issue she said:

“The house is on fire; the climate crisis is here, in Switzerland too.”

Her priorities therefore combine a Geneva focus with national demands for the Greens, from climate policy to a seat in the Federal Council.

What comes next

The 2027 federal elections will decide whether Mazzone returns to parliament. The Greens will campaign for the Geneva seat in the Council of States and for additional upper-house seats across the country. The party is aiming to clear the 10% vote-share threshold. Mazzone will also appear on the National Council list to support the party's campaign.