Vienna Election 2025: FPÖ Top Candidate Dominik Nepp in Profile
Whether Dominik Nepp was pleased with the legacy left to him by Heinz-Christian Strache as the Vienna FPÖ leader is not recorded. Since 2019, the 43-year-old has been busy picking up the pieces left by the former FPÖ chairman with the Ibiza and expense scandal. In the last Vienna election, Nepp had to pay the price. However, his perseverance seems to be paying off, as a tripling of the result is in sight.
Dominik Nepp is Strache's Unwilling Heir
Nepp is not considered a great charismatic figure, and as a Döblinger, he is not accustomed to harsh tones. However, in terms of content, he hardly differs from FPÖ chairman Kickl when it comes to railing against "asylum seekers" and criticizing the course of the powerful Vienna SPÖ. The current non-executive city councilor is not said to have great ambitions in the federal party; he is considered a loyal administrator of the Vienna Blues.
Although publicly loyal to federal party leader Herbert Kickl, Nepp is reportedly not unfamiliar with critical tones towards the federal FPÖ. Instead, there have been occasional verbal slips in other directions. Most recently, for example, when he referred to the "Standard" as a "shitty paper" after it reported on secretly recorded conversations of Vienna FPÖ politicians. He was accused of racism after he referred to the coronavirus as an "asylum seeker virus."
Blue Decline After Taking Office in Vienna
After Nepp became the new party leader in the post-Strache era in 2019, he could not prevent the subsequent blue decline. That he would one day lead the Rathaus-Freiheitlichen was something he probably hardly imagined shortly before. He was quickly appointed by the committees as the - initially only acting - successor to the long-time chairman Strache, who resigned in the wake of the Ibiza affair.
Since 2018, Nepp had already been serving as deputy mayor without a portfolio. This position was due to the Blues according to the city constitution, as they had captured more than a third of the 100 seats in the city parliament in the 2015 election. Until that point, Nepp was a relatively unknown political figure. This was not least due to the individuals whose legacy he had taken on and in whose shadow he stood. Strache and the former deputy mayor Johann Gudenus were particularly prominent.
Significant Loss in the Last Vienna Election
Still relatively unknown, Nepp was also launched as the top candidate of the FPÖ in the Vienna Election five years ago. After a loss of 23.68 percent, he lost the position of Vice Mayor and retained the office of a non-executive city councilor. It was not until April 2021 that he was elected as the regular chairman of the Vienna Freedom Party. With a small circle of confidants, primarily club leader Maximilian Krauss, he has since been targeting the red Vienna.
Nepp was born on February 14, 1982. He graduated in 2000 from the Billrothstraße Gymnasium, later completed the Master's program in Leadership, Politics, and Management at the FH Vienna, and worked as a partner in a trading company. While working, he completed the "Master of Arts in Political Management" between 2013 and 2017.
"Old Member" of the Aldania Vienna
In 2000, Nepp took on roles in the Ring of Freedom Youth. In 2005, he became a district councilor in Döbling, where he is still the district party chairman. In 2010, he entered the state parliament, and the transition to the club leadership took place there in 2015. Incidentally, he also succeeded Johann Gudenus at that time, when Gudenus took on the Vice Mayor position after the 2015 election. The Vienna FPÖ leader is an "Old Member" of the dueling Academic Fraternity Aldania Vienna.
Nepp is married - his wife Barbara joined the ORF Foundation Board in 2018 - and has two daughters. He names "any form of home-cooked food" as his favorite dish, and among his favorite drinks is a "G'spritzter" (a wine spritzer). Nepp likes Sting and the TV series "Game of Thrones". He also states on his homepage with whom he would like to speak. Answer: "Mohammed, to ask him if his interpretation of the Quran is also so intolerant and violent ..."
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.