Manuel Pichler wins Kirchberg mayoral election

Manuel Pichler of the Austrian People’s Party was elected mayor of Kirchberg in Tirol on Wednesday evening, ORF reported. He defeated Social Democratic Party candidate Claudia Hagsteiner by 11 votes to six in the municipal council.

The election became necessary after outgoing mayor Helmut Berger of the Social Democratic Party resigned from office on entering retirement, as previously announced. His deputy, Josef Eisenmann, had managed the municipality until the vote.

Berger had proposed Hagsteiner, a member of the Tyrol state parliament, as his successor. Pichler’s election means the council’s largest faction, the Austrian People’s Party, will provide the new mayor.