Zurich Mayor Corine Mauch announces resignation

“My work as mayor gives me great pleasure. I'm still highly motivated and I want to do my utmost for the people of Zurich right up to the last day,” Corine Mauch told reporters on March 3. Keystone / Michael Buholzer

Corine Mauch has announced that she will not be standing for re-election in the next municipal elections in March 2026. Elected in March 2009, she has been re-elected four times as mayor of Switzerland's largest city.

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Born in Iowa City in the United States, Mauch will celebrate her 65th birthday on May 28. Elected in a by-election in March 2009, the left-wing Social Democrat succeeded Elmar Ledergerber as mayor.

She was subsequently re-elected as mayor in 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022. Mauch told the media on Monday that she had decided last autumn not to stand for re-election.

“My work as mayor gives me great pleasure. I’m still highly motivated and I want to do my utmost for the people of Zurich right up to the last day,” she said. “Zurich today is a strong, prosperous and united city. We must keep it that way.”

+ Zurich elects first female mayor

Corine Mauch was the first woman and the first openly gay person to hold the Zurich mayor position. She is the daughter of Ursula Mauch, the first female member of the Aargau parliament (1979-1995) and the first female candidate for the Aargau government.

She studied agricultural economics at the Swiss federal technology institute (ETH Zurich) and also studied at the Graduate Institute of Public Administration (IDHEAP) at the University of Lausanne.

“I would like to pay particular tribute to the way in which Corine Mauch has committed herself over all these years to promoting good cohabitation in our city. For a modern Zurich, where people with the most diverse life plans are valued and can realise their ideas,” said Oliver Heimgartner, president of Zurich’s Social Democratic Party.

He highlighted the “naturalisation offensive” launched by Mauch. Heimgartner also recalled her commitment to undocumented migrants and intervention with the canton “for greater democratic participation by people without a Swiss passport”.

Social Democrat André Odermatt will also not be standing for re-election in March 2026 after 15 years in the government. Corinne Mauch and André Odermatt “have left their mark on the politics of the city of Zurich”, said Heimgartner. The city “is in perfect financial health, we have a great infrastructure and a high quality of life”.

The Zurich city government currently comprises four Social Democrats, two Greens, one Liberal Green and two Radical-Liberals.

Adapted from French by DeepL/sb

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