Ahead of the State Parliament elections to be held in Berlin on September 20, the Left Party ranked first with 22% in a ZDF poll conducted among 1611 voters from September 14 to 17. CDU was measured at 20%, AfD at 18%, the Greens at 15% and SPD at 12%. Among candidates for mayor, Left Party candidate Elif Eralp received 25% support, CDU candidate Stefan Evers 24%, and Werner Graf of the Greens 12%.
The Financial Times compared Eralp to Zohran Mamdani. If she wins the election, 45-year-old Eralp could become the first mayor of Turkish origin in Berlin, which has a population of 3.9 million. While housing and rental issues are the main themes of the campaign, the Left Party advocates rent controls, social housing and restrictions on holiday rentals. The party wants the expropriation of 220 thousand homes owned by companies and a rent cap on approximately 400 thousand public housing units. The cost of the plan is estimated at between 7 billion and 36 billion euros.
Why it matters
The poll results indicate that the election may not be limited to a contest between candidates, but could also determine the direction of housing and rental policies. The Left Party’s prominent proposals could have direct consequences for tenants, those seeking social housing and a housing market affected by holiday rentals. The expropriation of homes owned by companies and the application of a rent cap in public housing offer a policy framework that differs from other parties due to its scope and cost. The election therefore brings to the fore not only which tools will be used to intervene in the housing problem, but also how the cost of billions of euros will be covered. In addition, Eralp’s potential success would carry symbolic significance in terms of the level of representation of a candidate of Turkish origin in city government.
Background
Berlin is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: we published one article mentioning the name in the past 90 days; that article is dated August 29, 2026.