Elif Eralp, a politician of Turkish origin, is seeking to become Berlin’s governing mayor as her Left Party narrowly leads the latest poll ahead of the Sept. 20 state election.
A ZDF poll published on Sept. 17 put Die Linke at 22 percent, ahead of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) on 20 percent. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) stood at 18 percent, the Greens at 15 percent and the Social Democrats (SPD) at 12 percent.
Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern vote two weeks after the AfD’s victory in the Saxony-Anhalt state election.
Eralp, 45, has put high rents and the housing shortage at the center of a campaign built around door-to-door visits.
Her party wants to bring thousands of apartments owned by large housing companies into public ownership.
Daily Hürriyet reported that she had attracted support from voters of Turkish origin beyond the party’s usual supporters.
A first-place finish would not guarantee Eralp the mayoralty, which is decided by the state parliament.
ZDF said the polling figures suggested possible majorities for either a Left-Greens-SPD coalition or a CDU-led alliance with the same two partners.
The Left Party’s housing expropriation plans could complicate negotiations with the SPD, where some members are reluctant to govern with the party.
Eralp is being compared with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, pointing to their focus on housing costs and door-to-door campaigning.
She has also said she would seek the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under an International Criminal Court warrant if elected, while acknowledging limits on Berlin’s authority.
Born in Munich and raised in Hamburg, Eralp is the daughter of parents from Kayseri and Adana who moved to Germany after Türkiye’s 1980 military coup.
“I witnessed injustice and racism as a child. At just 12, I decided to study law and work in human rights,” she told Hürriyet.
She trained with the U.N. refugee agency and spent about 11 years as a legal adviser to the Left Party in the Bundestag before entering Berlin’s state parliament in 2021.
Her father and many relatives live in Türkiye, which she visits every year. “I love Türkiye. After Berlin, it is my second home,” she said.
