VIENNA -- The law-and-order candidate of Austria's right-wing party swept the first round of presidential elections on Sunday, winning more than 35 percent of the vote for the party's best-ever result. Government coalition contenders were among the five losers, signaling deep voter rejection of the governing coalition.
The triumph by Norbert Hofer eclipses his Freedom Party's previous best national showing -- more than 27 percent support in 1996 elections that decided Austria's membership in the European Union.
His declared willingness to challenge the governing coalition of center-left Social Democrats and the centrist People's Party has extended to the Austrian parliament. Hofer has warned that if he is elected, he might push for new parliamentary elections in hopes that his Freedom Party will triumph.
Preliminary results with absentee ballots still to be counted gave Hofer 35.5 percent support, far ahead of Alexander Van der Bellen of the Greens party who ran as an independent. With 20.4 percent backing, Van der Bellen will challenge Hofer in the May 22 runoff.
Independent Irmgard Griss came in third. At 18.5 percent, she was ahead of People's Party candidate Andreas Khol and Social Democrat Rudolf Hundstorfer, both slightly above 11 percent. Political outsider Richard Lugner was last, with 2.4 percent.
With the candidates of establishment parties shut out of the office for the first time since Austria's political landscape was re-formed after World War II, Freedom Party chief Heinz-Christian Strache hailed the "historic event" that he said reflected massive "voter dissatisfaction."
But Van der Bellen said that many of those who voted for other candidates are likely to swing behind him in the runoff in hopes he will defeat Hofer and the Freedom Party.
"That was the first round," Van der Bellen said. "The second one will decide."
Hofer's triumph was significant nonetheless, and in line with recent polls showing Freedom Party popularity. Driven by concerns over Europe's migrant crisis, support for his party has surged to 32 percent compared with just over 20 percent for each of the governing parties. The Freedom Party believes that immigration threatens Austrian values and cuts into the job market.
But voters were unhappy with the Social Democrats and the People's Party even before the migrant influx last year forced their coalition government to swing from open borders to tough asylum restrictions. Decades of bickering over key issues -- most recently tax, pension and education overhauls -- has fed perceptions of political stagnation.
Reflecting voter dissatisfaction, an ORF/SORA/ISA poll of 1,210 eligible voters released Sunday after balloting ended showed only 19 percent "satisfied" with the government's work. Its margin of error was 2.8 percentage points.
Vienna Social Democratic Mayor Michael Haeupl spoke of "a catastrophic result" from the elections, but even worse could lie ahead for both his and the People's Party. Hofer has threatened to call a new national election if he is elected president, which would further complicate joint European Union attempts to solve the migrant crisis and find consensus on other divisive issues.
An Austrian president has the power to dismiss a government. But none has since the office was defined after World War II. Instead, the role has been traditionally ceremonial, with presidents rarely going beyond gentle criticism of the government.
Trying to ease concerns that he would be too confrontational in office, Hofer told reporters that he would be "there for all Austrians."
"No one need be afraid," he told reporters.
Still, he added, "that does not mean that I reject my principles." Alluding to his threat to call for a new election, he said that with him as president, the present government would "face serious difficulties" if it didn't change its course.
The Austrian president appoints the chancellor, who has traditionally represented the majority party in the parliament because it can call for a vote of no confidence in the administration. The chances of Sunday's top two finishers forming a new coalition are slim -- Van der Bellen had vowed before Sunday's vote not to swear in any Freedom Party politician as Austria's chancellor.
The president has a six-year mandate. Parliamentary elections that will help decide the next chancellor must be held by 2018.
Information for this article was contributed by Philipp Jenne of The Associated Press.
A Section on 04/25/2016