Ralf Stegner | |
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Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany in Schleswig-Holstein | |
Assumed office 2007 |
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Finance Minister of Schleswig-Holstein | |
In office 1 March 2003 – 27 April 2005 |
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Preceded by | Claus Möller |
Succeeded by | Rainer Wiegard |
Minister of the Interior of Schleswig-Holstein | |
In office 27 April 2005 – 15 January 2008 |
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Preceded by | Klaus Buß |
Succeeded by | Lothar Hay |
Personal details | |
Born |
Bad Dürkheim, West Germany Germany |
2 October 1959
Political party | Social Democratic Party of Germany |
Alma mater | University of Freiburg, Harvard University |
Ralf Stegner (born 2. October 1959 in Bad Dürkheim) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).
In addition to his degree in Political Science, History and German from the University of Freiburg (1980-7), Stegner earned a Masters of Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (1987-9).
From 1996 to 2005, Stegner served in various roles in the state government of Minister-President Heide Simonis. He was State Secretary for Labor, Social Affairs and Health from 1996 to 1998 before serving as State Secretary for Education, Research and Cultural Affairs from 1998 to 2003. Between 2003 and until Simonis’ resignation in 2005, he was the State Minister of Finance.
Stegner has been a member of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein since the 2005 state elections. In the new coalition government led by Minister-President Peter Harry Carstensen, he served as State Minister for Home Affairs from 2005 until 2008. Since 2007, he has been serving as chairman of the Schleswig-Holstein SPD.
Following the Social Democrats’ electoral defeat in the 2009 elections, Stegner became the chairman of the party’s parliamentary group and thereby leader of the opposition against the Carstensen government. He was unsuccessful in his attempt to become the party’s candidate for Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein for the 2012 elections; instead, Torsten Albig was chosen and subsequently elected.