Elections were held to the Council of States of

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in October and November 2007 as part of the 2007 federal election. All 46 members of the Council of States were elected from all

cantons of Switzerland The 26 cantons of Switzerland (german: Kanton; french: canton ; it, cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: ; Vallader and Puter: ; Sutsilvan: ; Rumantsch Grischun: ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Con ...

. The first round was held on 21 October. In eight cantons, not all seats were filled in the first round, and a second round was held on 11 November, 18 November, or 25 November. The election was a breakthrough for the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

, which won its first two seats in the Council of States, and the Green Liberal Party (GLP), which won a seat only four months after it split from the Greens. These gains – the first time minor parties had won representation in the Council of States since 1995 – came at the expense of the Free Democratic Party, which lost two seats, and the

Swiss People's Party The Swiss People's Party (german: Schweizerische Volkspartei, SVP; rm, Partida populara Svizra, PPS), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (french: Union démocratique du centre, UDC; it, Unione Democratica di Centro, UDC), is a nati ...

, which lost its seat in its stronghold of Zurich to the GLP.

Election

The Council of States election was not finalized with the first run on 21 October; twelve seats remained to be distributed in second round elections on 11 November, 18 November or 25 November 2007. The second round saw a number of notable races, for instance the election for the second seat in Zürich, where SP candidate

Chantal Galladé Chantal Galladé (born 17 December 1972 in Winterthur) is a Swiss politician, represented the Canton of Zürich in the Swiss National Council as member of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SP) from December 2003 until December 2018. ...

agreed to withdraw and support GLP candidate

Verena Diener Verena Diener (born 27 March 1949 in Winterthur) is a Swiss politician. A member of the Green Liberal Party of Switzerland she represented the canton of Zürich in the National Council from 1987 to 1998 and in the Council of States from 2007 to ...

against SVP candidate

Ueli Maurer Ulrich "Ueli" Maurer (; born 1 December 1950) is a Swiss politician who has served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 2009. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), he was President of the Swiss Confederation in 2013 and 2019 ...

, increasing the centre-left's changes in the second round. In St. Gallen, where no one was elected in the first round, FDP candidate

Erika Forster Au Revoir Simone is an American indie pop band from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2003. The group is composed of Erika Forster (vocals/keyboard), Annie Hart (vocals/keyboard/bass) and Heather D'Angelo (vocals/drum machine/keyboar ...

and CVP candidate Eugen David, both incumbents, started a common campaign for reelection against SVP candidate

Toni Brunner Toni, Toñi or Tóni is a unisex given name. In Spanish, Italian, Croatian and Finnish, it is a masculine given name used as a short form of the names derived from Antonius like Antonio, Ante or Anttoni. In Danish, English, Finnish, Norwegia ...

. Four candidates contested the election for the two seats in Tessin --

Dick Marty Dick Marty (born 7 January 1945) is a Swiss politician ( FDP.The Liberals) and former state prosecutor of the canton of Ticino. He is a former member of the Swiss Council of States (from 1995 to 2011) and of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Coun ...

(FDP, over 40,000 votes in the first round), Filippo Lombardi (CVP),

Franco Cavalli Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ...

(SP) -- both of whom had over 30,000 votes—and finally Attilio Bignasca (Lega). The two incumbents from the FDP and CVP were reelected on 18 November. The second seat for Lucerne was handed to CVP candidate

Konrad Graber Konrad is a German (with variants ''Kunz'' and ''Kunze'') given name and surname that means "bold counselor" and may refer to: People Given name Surname *Alexander Konrad (1890–1940), Russian explorer *Antoine Konrad (born 1975), birth name o ...

in so-called "silent election" when no other candidate filed to run against him in the second round. Graber had narrowly failed to be elected in the first round.Stille Ständeratswahl im Kanton Luzern (Schweiz, NZZ Online)
/ref> The second mandate in Fribourg and Valais was also decided in this way. , - !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;" colspan=2, Parties !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;" , Ideology !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , 2003 !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Seats !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , ± , - , width=5px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC) , style="text-align:left;" ,

Christian democracy Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 15 , style="text-align:right;" , 15 , style="text-align:right;" , ±0 , - , style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD) , style="text-align:left;" ,

Classical liberalism Classical liberalism is a political tradition Political culture describes how culture impacts politics. Every political system is embedded in a particular political culture. Definition Gabriel Almond defines it as "the particular patt ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 14 , style="text-align:right;" , 12 , style="text-align:right;" , –2 , - , style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

(SPS/PSS) , style="text-align:left;" ,

Social democracy Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 9 , style="text-align:right;" , 9 , style="text-align:right;" , ±0 , - , style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

(SVP/UDC) , style="text-align:left;" ,

National conservatism National conservatism is a nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding national and cultural identity. National conservatives usually combine nationalism with conservative stances promoting traditional cultural values, ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 8 , style="text-align:right;" , 7 , style="text-align:right;" , –1 , - , style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

(GPS/PES) , style="text-align:left;" ,

Green politics Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy. Wall 2010. p. 12-13. It b ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 0 , style="text-align:right;" , 2 , style="text-align:right;" , +2 , - , style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Green Liberal Party (GLP/VL) , style="text-align:left;" ,

Green liberalism Green liberalism, or liberal environmentalism, is liberalism that includes green politics in its ideology. Green liberals are usually liberal on social issues and "green" on economic issues. The term "green liberalism" was coined by political phi ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 0 , style="text-align:right;" , 1 , style="text-align:right;" , +1 , - , style="text-align:left;background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan=3, Total , width="30" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 46 , width="30" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 46 , width="30" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", , - , colspan=6 style="text-align:left;" , Source: http://www.politik-stat.ch/srw2007CH_de.html

Results

Appenzell Ausserrhoden

Appenzell Innerrhoden

Aargau

Basel-Landschaft

Basel-Stadt

Bern

Fribourg

Geneva

Glarus

Graubünden

Jura

Lucerne

Neuchâtel

Nidwalden

Obwalden

Schaffhausen

Schwyz

Solothurn

St. Gallen

Thurgau

Ticino

Uri

Valais

Vaud

Zug

Zurich

Footnotes

{{reflist Council of States (Switzerland) 2007 elections in Switzerland Elections to national upper houses