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In contrast to Hofer’s capture of a third of the vote, more than polls forecast, the two establishment parties received just 11 percent apiece, sorrowful all-time lows. Observers say the mainstream parties have never looked more out of touch and void of ideas than they do today, a significant factor in the Freedom Party’s climb. As a consequence of the debacle, Austria’s chancellor, Werner Faymann, unexpectedly resigned his post and the leadership of the Social Democrats last week. In addition to the Freedom Party, two other parties beat out the centrists, one of them a Green-left candidate, Alexander Van der Bellen (with 21 percent), who will compete in the runoff against Hofer for the presidency.

Young people, the lower middle class, and less-educated men, many of them traditional Social democratic voters, seem to connect with the concerned, congenial Hofer. They are not the wealthy or the poor, but working-class families worried about losing what they have. “People aren’t abashed to say they’re voting for Hofer,” says Ingrid Steiner-Gashi, an editor at the Vienna daily Kurier, contrasting this attitude with the past. “His gentle tone enables him to attract support from outside of the usual Freedom Party base.”

Behind all the smiles, the No. 1 issue is refugees – and how to keep them at bay. The Freedom Party, resolutely anti-immigration for decades, is exploiting the coalition government’s midstream flip-flop on refugee policy. Under Faymann, Vienna first stood by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, backing her decision to welcome refugees being refused entry in Hungary and elsewhere. But as their numbers soared (in 2015, Austria received 90,000 requests for asylum, on a per capita basis the second-highest in Europe) the Austrians retreated, shutting down the border and reducing refugee influx to a crawl. In the end, it looked as if the ruling parties, simultaneously battling poor economic figures and rising unemployment, capitulated to the demands of the Freedom Party. Hofer could thus boast of the Freedom Party as the “guardian of the interests of all Austrians.” Throughout the campaign, he has underscored his party’s intentions to keep borders closed, beef up military patrols along the borders, and reduce social benefits for asylum seekers.