Finland headed to the polls on Sunday to elect thousands of councillors in a range of local and regional bodies.
The Social Democrats took a big win in the municipal elections, taking nearly one in four votes nationwide to push the National Coalition Party of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo into second place.
In the county council elections, for 21 regional bodies that arrange social and healthcare outside Helsinki, the SDP also topped the poll. The Centre Party recorded a good result in its rural heartlands to secure third spot.
Government parties did poorly, with all but the NCP losing support compared to the previous municipal elections in 2021. Turnout in the municipal election was 54.2 percent, while the county elections saw 51.7 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots.
The dual vote for municipal and county councils caused logistical issues for election officials, with counting slower than usual for Finland, where large numbers vote in advance and results are usually clear within a couple of hours of polls closing.
The Finns Party saw support collapse compared to the last municipal election, with the party nearly halving its vote from four years ago. They lost support in several towns that are seeing hospital services cut back as part of the central government’s savings drive.
I still somewhat struggle to explain to myself why he won.
I’ve considered it being a protest vote, not one with a clear goal or particular signal in mind, but just as a F you to whomever was in power, but that doesn’t explain why people worship him.
I’ve considered it being a result of conspiracy theories and his ability to use those to his advantage by occasionally partial recognizing them and playing along with the story, but that doesn’t explain why over half the country would vote for him.
I’ve considered it being a consequence of Moscow trying to destabilize the US by supporting a candidate that is easily bought or manipulated. Although there definitely has been some interference, believing it to be effective to an extent of swaying the elections seems almost like wishful thinking at this point.
In the end, I’m still not entirely sure what it is. Maybe you’re right and it’s really that simple.
Harris was the “more of the same” candidate. If you saw things getting better, that sounded good. If you’re in pain, that’s more pain.
There’s a lot of America in pain.
those are a bunch of rationalizations. working americans have been pissed for decades and things have not improved. its why everything is going to go tits up for the rest of the decade.
they dont care about trump. they’re pissed no one represents them anymore and life keeps getting harder. there is a reason cars are starting to be lit of fire.
There’s also that Biden basically sabotaged the democrat campaign by stepping down only at the last minute, and then proceeding to pressure Kamala to not distance her campaign from the Biden campaign
It could be a bit of them all; his base isn’t large enough on its own but, together with those who wanted to protest vote and those looking for relief from the economy and those who hated the idea of voting for a black woman, they may’ve all been enough to get him over the finish line.