– I have a good impression of her. Kari has been very active and profiled. I think she is a good face for the city, says Simen Birkedal. He is among several who answer Kari Nessa Nordtun, when I ask people in Stavanger who they would most like to have as mayor after the election. – Yes, I like Kari myself and, even though I am on the other side politically, says Anders Bergskaug. – She has been profiled. She has appeared in the media. She has been a clear leader for Stavanger. And that’s probably all you can ask for in a mayoral candidate, he adds. Simen Birkedal and Anders Bergskaug are on opposite sides politically, but both are satisfied with the job the current mayor has done. Photo: Kjersti Hetland / news Especially popular among women In an opinion poll conducted by Norstat for news in Stavanger, 44 percent say they would prefer Kari Nessa Nordtun from the Labor Party as mayor. 21 percent want Høgre’s candidate, Sissel Knutsen Hegdal. The incumbent Ap mayor is particularly popular among women. Fully 50 per cent say they want Nessa Nordtun as mayor. SMILER: Kari Nessa Nordtun is closer to election now than she was just a few months ago. But it still looks like Stavanger will turn blue again. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news Only 15 percent want Knutsen Hegdal. – You get a clear advantage from being mayor. And she is very profiled in the media, so people know who she is. In addition, she has distinguished herself as a national politician, managed to keep the cooperation party together and given her political project a profile, says political scientist at the University of Stavanger, Svein Tuastad. Svein Tuastad is a political scientist at the University of Stavanger. Photo: Josef Benoni Ness Tveit / news Nessa Nordtun herself says this about the results of the survey. – Very nice to get that feedback. And then it is important that they then vote for the Labor Party if they want me to continue as mayor. Most votes for Høgre – Do you want to vote for her party? – No, I don’t want that, says Bergskaug. Like many others in Stavanger, he wants to vote for Høgre. In the same survey, they get 34.8 percent support and a majority with their partners. Sissel Knutsen Hegdal had thus become the new mayor, even if fewer people want her than the party she represents. – I am the challenger to the incumbent mayor. And I will work every day to be out and meet the residents, so that more people get to know me. – And when I hopefully get into the mayor’s office, I will be a mayor for everyone, who must be highly active and use that role very well, says Knutsen Hegdal. THE MAYOR DUEL: It’s between these two. It seems that Sissel Knutsen Hegdal will emerge victorious from the battle for the mayoral chain. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news Popularity can help Ap – You cannot say that she is unpopular. Most of all, she is less visible than Kari Nessa Nordtun, says Tuastad about Knutsen Hegdal. He still believes that the Ap mayor’s popularity may have something to say about the election result. In the same opinion poll, Ap in Stavanger gets 25.5 per cent, which is a better turnout than they have had nationally recently. – Kari Nessa Nordtun’s popularity probably comes into play when she is now closer to the election than one would have thought. But she gets no help from Støre and the government, because they are so unpopular. The X-factor in this election will therefore be whether the wind turns nationally. If they get traction nationally, then the election is not decided, says Tuastad. Sissel Knutsen Hegdal will probably paint Stavanger blue again. John Peter Hernes failed to do that in 2019, when he lost the mayoral race against Kari Nessa Nordtun. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news
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Almost half of Stavanger wants Kari Nessa Nordtun as mayor – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
