Municipal elections Mayor of Rapperswil-Jona SG beaten by challenger
In Rapperswil-Jona SG, Mayor Martin Stöckling (FDP) missed out on re-election for the time being on Sunday. Barbara Dillier (non-party) and Boris Meier (GLP) both received more votes than the incumbent. Dillier missed the absolute majority by a relatively narrow margin. A second ballot must now be held.
22.09.2024, 15:19
22.09.2024, 19:09
SDA
Barbara Dillier (non-party) achieved the best result by far in the elections for the municipal presidency in Rapperswil-Jona SG. The mayor of Fischenthal (ZH) received 4,101 votes. The absolute majority was 4655 votes.
GLP councillor Boris Meier also did better than incumbent Martin Stöckling (2534 votes) with 2583 votes.
The 49-year-old Stöckling ran for a third term of office. However, he came under fire for various projects, such as a controversial sale of land to a subsidiary of a Chinese company.
One of Stöckling's harshest critics was publisher Bruno Hug, who supported Stöckling in his first election in 2016 when he pushed the then mayor Erich Zoller (center) out of office.
Hug has since campaigned for Stöckling to be voted out of office. It was he who put forward Barbara Dillier as an opposing candidate for the presidency of the second-largest city in the canton of St. Gallen.
Non-party candidate ousts green city councillor
As of 2025, the city government of Rapperswil-Jona will change from seven partially part-time city councillors to a body with five full-time members.
Five people ran for the remaining four seats on the city council in addition to the mayor's office. Three incumbents were re-elected. Joe Kunz (non-party) was elected to the city council for the first time as a new candidate. Tanja Zschokke, the incumbent Green Party councillor, missed out on re-election.
