Elections were held to the
Council of States of
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
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 are the Federated state, member states of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the . Two important ...
. 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, 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 (, SVP; , PPS), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (, UDC; , UDC), is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Marcel Dettling, it is the largest party in ...
, which lost its seat in its stronghold of
Zurich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
to the GLP.
Results
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 agreed to withdraw and support GLP candidate
Verena Diener against SVP candidate
Ueli Maurer
Ulrich "Ueli" Maurer (; born 1 December 1950) is a Swiss politician who served as a List of members of the Swiss Federal Council, Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2009 to 2022. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), he was Pres ...
, 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 and CVP candidate
Eugen David, both incumbents, started a common campaign for reelection against SVP candidate
Toni Brunner. Four candidates contested the election for the two seats in Tessin --
Dick Marty (FDP, over 40,000 votes in the first round),
Filippo Lombardi (CVP),
Franco Cavalli (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 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.
By canton
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
References
{{reflist
Council of States (Switzerland)
Council of States
Elections to national upper houses