One likely outcome of Berlin’s elections on September 20, 2026 is already taking shape: the queer-friendly district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg is set to be governed by a queer-led administration once again. With Thomas Weigelt (Greens) and René Pérez Domínguez (Left) in the running, two gay men appear to have strong chances to succeed the current district mayor Clara Herrmann (Greens), who has decided not to run for another term.
Green Judge: Thomas Weigelt
Thomas Weigelt is expected to receive the Greens’ official nomination on March 21. The 39-year-old serves as a judge at the Berlin Administrative Court and has previously held roles such as a district councilor and participant in urban development policymaking. In terms of policy, he advocates for ecological urban planning, more green space, and neighborhoods that are more livable. He also aims to safeguard the district’s cultural diversity and strengthen public participation. “I bring administrative experience and district-level know-how. As a queer man, I want to champion a colorful and diverse district,” Weigelt told the “Tagesspiegel.”
Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg has “been a place of openness and solidarity for decades,” reads a Greens press release accompanying Weigelt’s nomination. “In times of a noticeable rightward shift and growing social insecurity, places where marginalized people and those with experiences of discrimination can feel safe and welcome are more important than ever.”
Left Party Group Leader: René Pérez Domínguez
René Pérez Domínguez, born in 1983, has so far served as co-chair of the Left faction in the district council. He has taken his family name; previously he went by Jokisch. Since 2025, the Left notes, he has been “happily married to a Mexican man.”
Raised in modest circumstances in a housing block in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen (his mother worked as a hospital cleaner, his father was a taxi driver), he attended school on Rigaer Straße. This background, the Left explains, helped turn Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg—with its history of squatters and alternative scenes—into his political home. He studied political science in Potsdam, supported by BAföG and working part-time to make ends meet. He joined the PDS in 2002. He has worked for the Left faction in the Bundestag and, in 2023, moved to the Berlin state parliament as a policy adviser for economy, municipal affairs, and districts.
The Left district leadership has unanimously recommended René Pérez Domínguez as the party’s mayoral candidate. The official nomination is planned for a representatives’ assembly on April 18, 2026.
The Greens Have Led the District for Twenty Years
Berlin’s city and district elections on September 20, 2026 will test leadership across the city. In Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, the Greens have governed unchallenged for two decades. In the district council elections of 2023, they remained the largest party with 34.5 percent. At the federal level, the February 2025 Bundestag election marked a historic shift for the district: for the first time, the Left topped the local result, giving them a direct mandate advantage. In response, the Left’s deputy district chair Damiano Valgolio framed the situation bluntly: “With René as our candidate, we have a realistic shot at installing the district’s mayor in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg starting in September.”
From 2013 to 2021, the district’s top job was held by another queer politician from the Greens, Monika Herrmann. (mize)