It was a bizarre sight: when the initial results of Vienna’s regional elections were announced on October 11, Austrian national television cut to the Viennese headquarters of the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) bursting with jubilation. Party functionaries, candidates, and dignitaries could be seen jumping from their chairs, cheering, and embracing.

But the SPÖ wasn’t celebrating a victory. They were elated because the results weren’t as bad as they’d expected. With 39 percent of the vote, they had still slipped almost five percentage points from the previous election.

Meanwhile, the party of the extreme right, the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), gained more than 5 percent and cracked the 30 percent mark for the first time in Austria’s capital city.