Leon Eckert made it to Berlin as the fourth candidate from the Freising district.
The Greens had to suffer a long time for his mandate in the Bundestag.
Freising
- He hoped, he feared, and above all he waited a long time: As the last of all direct candidates from the Freising district, Leon Eckert (Greens) knew what was going on.
After a rollercoaster of emotions, he learned early Monday morning that he had made it into the Bundestag - as the seventeenth and last candidate on the list.
Or as the 25-year-old from Eching put it himself: "Crazy, I'm in!"
With this, Eckert completes a historic Bundestag election for the Freising district.
Because after Erich Irlstorfer (CSU), Andreas Mehltretter (SPD) and Johannes Huber (AfD), he is the fourth MP from the district.
This has never happened before.
To date, a maximum of two regional representatives had made it to Berlin at the same time.
The fire brigade alarm wakes the Green candidate, then the shock
Eckert had to suffer the longest for his mandate. Because when he went to bed well after midnight, he still didn't know how it would turn out for him. "It was a constant back and forth," he reports from the election party in the Freising restaurant Et Cetera. “Once it looked like I was safe inside, then it said again that it wasn't enough. I slept correspondingly restlessly. "
The night quickly ended again.
"The fire brigade alarm went off at 5 o'clock," reports Eckert, who is one of the active emergency services in Eching.
He quickly jumped into his sweatpants and ran down to the bike.
Then the shock.
“I found out that I had forgotten the key to the bike lock at the election party.” Fortunately, enough fire fighters had been deployed even without him, but he himself was completely perplexed and forgot the choice for a while.
Eckert: "I didn't order it so dramatically"
Shortly before 6 a.m. the next beep: This time Katharina Schulze, leader of the Greens in the state parliament, contacted him - congratulating him on moving into the Bundestag.
The first of several congratulatory messages.
"I was still full of adrenaline because I missed the fire service," reports Eckert.
"I couldn't believe it."
It was very dramatic.
Because Eckert got the last ticket of the Bavarian Greens for the Bundestag - as seventeenth of seventeen, on the list position 18. He can thank Jamila Schäfer, who won a direct mandate in Munich and thus made room for another member of the list.
“I didn't order it so dramatically,” says Eckert and laughs.
But then the joy is actually even more intense. "
Scholz or Laschet?
Eckert has a clear point of view
Eckert is still making his way to Berlin today.
Planned arrival: 5 p.m., first group meeting on Tuesday morning.
“I have to get used to it quickly,” he says.
He has a clear stance in the tug-of-war for the chancellorship between Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Armin Laschet (CDU).
“We Greens did not get as many votes for change as we had hoped.
That means: We now have to bundle all forces for change and departure in the government - regardless of whether they are SPD, FDP or Greens. "
The 25-year-old has confidence in the new mandate.
“I should at least be the fittest MP,” he says, looking at 1878 kilometers that he has torn down by bike in order to visit all 50 parishes in his constituency.
"I would like to bring in the drive and vigor that I have now."
Also read:
You can find out how the historic election night in Freising ended in the live ticker of the Freisinger Tagblatt.
