Election
The Council of States election was not finalized with the first run on 21 October; twelve seats remained to be distributed in second round elections on 11 November, 18 November or 25 November 2007.
The second round saw a number of notable races, for instance the election for the second seat in Zürich, where SP candidate Chantal Galladé agreed to withdraw and support GLP candidate Verena Diener against SVP candidate Ueli Maurer, increasing the centre-left's changes in the second round. In St. Gallen, where no one was elected in the first round, FDP candidate Erika Forster and CVP candidate Eugen David, both incumbents, started a common campaign for reelection against SVP candidate Toni Brunner. Four candidates contested the election for the two seats in Tessin -- Dick Marty (FDP, over 40,000 votes in the first round), Filippo Lombardi (CVP), Franco Cavalli (SP) -- both of whom had over 30,000 votes—and finally Attilio Bignasca (Lega). The two incumbents from the FDP and CVP were reelected on 18 November.
The second seat for Lucerne was handed to CVP candidate Konrad Graber in so-called "silent election" when no other candidate filed to run against him in the second round. Graber had narrowly failed to be elected in the first round. The second mandate in Fribourg and Valais was also decided in this way.
| Parties | Ideology | 2003 | Seats | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC) | Christian democracy | 15 | 15 | ±0 | |
| Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD) | Classical liberalism | 14 | 12 | –2 | |
| Social Democratic Party (SPS/PSS) | Social democracy | 9 | 9 | ±0 | |
| Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) | National conservatism | 8 | 7 | –1 | |
| Green Party (GPS/PES) | Green politics | 0 | 2 | +2 | |
| Green Liberal Party (GLP/VL) | Green liberalism | 0 | 1 | +1 | |
| Total | 46 | 46 | |||
| Source: http://www.politik-stat.ch/srw2007CH_de.html | |||||
Read more about this topic: Swiss Council Of States Election, 2007
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