Convicted hobby hunter fails to win election to Thurgau Administrative Court
Thurgau Grand Council elects Stephan Zlabinger as administrative judge – SVP candidate with prior convictions loses out.
In a tense election, the Thurgau Grand Council has elected Stephan Zlabinger (GLP) as the new judge on the cantonal Administrative Court.
In the first round, Hess narrowly led with 57 votes to 56, underscoring the significance of reputation in political decision-making.
The 39-year-old Stephan Zlabinger received 61 votes in the second round, with an absolute majority of 61. His SVP challenger, Robert Hess, managed to secure 55 of the 120 valid votes cast by cantonal councillors.
Hess, aged 41, is a jurist and has been head of the cantonal veterinary office since 2020. However, he was convicted of attempted coercion and driving under the influence of alcohol. He has also come under criticism for his hunting trips to South Africa. For years, Hess has been organising hunting trips for hobby hunters from his social circle, in which a fixed number of kills of warthogs and antelopes is included in the package price. Those who shoot more must pay extra – though no written contracts exist. A hobby hunter who failed to pay an invoice of 650 dollars was confronted by Hess with reminder letters and the threat of exclusion from the cantonal hunting association. The District Court of Münchwilen convicted Hess of attempted coercion, and the Court of Appeal upheld the guilty verdict, but converted the unconditional fine into a conditional one.
The GLP put forward Zlabinger as its own candidate, thereby breaking the voluntary proportional representation arrangement under which the SVP would have been entitled to the judicial seat. The by-election became necessary after Court President Richard Weber (SVP) resigned. Zlabinger is a self-employed attorney and partner at the law firm Degginger Bischof Zlabinger in St. Gallen.
The election shows that both professional qualifications and animal welfare activities supported by a petition, as well as one's reputation in the canton of Thurgau, clearly play a central role, and that prior convictions can be decisive for political careers in cantonal offices.
