Who is Heidi Reichinnek?
Merseburg, in what is today Saxony-Anhalt, is where Heidi Reichinnek was born in 1988, and her work before politics was in youth welfare. Osnabrück city council had her as a member from 2016 to 2021, and she headed Die Linke in Lower Saxony from 2019 until 2023. The Bundestag welcomed her in 2021. Pellmann and she have run the Linke group jointly since February 2024. Jan van Aken was her fellow lead candidate when the party fought the 2025 federal election.
Previously: Die Linke lead candidate in the 2025 federal election, with Jan van Aken · Member of the Bundestag for Lower Saxony (since 2021) · Chair of Die Linke in Lower Saxony (2019-2023) · Member of Osnabrück city council (2016-2021)
Documented positions
- Her calls: freeze rents, build more social housing, drop VAT on basic foods, and restructure income tax so the large majority is relieved.Source: bundestag.de
- In April 2026 she urged an immediate windfall tax, arguing the profits could pay for an energy crisis payment of 300 euros per person.Source: zdfheute.de
- In March 2026 she voted against swapping the Bürgergeld for the Grundsicherung, which is stricter.Source: abgeordnetenwatch.de
- Her vote in December 2025 opposed rejecting a motion from her group, one that would abolish inheritance tax breaks for the largest inheritances.Source: abgeordnetenwatch.de
- December 2025 also saw her vote against the military service law, which includes compulsory screening for young men.Source: abgeordnetenwatch.de
- She voted no in July 2026 on a Greens motion for further military and humanitarian support to Ukraine.Source: abgeordnetenwatch.de
- Her February 2026 vote opposed the law that implements the EU asylum reform with its border procedures.Source: abgeordnetenwatch.de
- The June 2025 suspension of family reunification for refugees with subsidiary protection met with her vote against.Source: abgeordnetenwatch.de
Record
A vote in the Bundestag in June 2025 left Reichinnek short of a seat on the committee overseeing the intelligence services: she got 260 votes, not the 316 needed, after Union politicians questioned where her party stands on antisemitism. Die Linke described the result as an affront and recalled that it had helped make possible the second ballot that elected Merz as Chancellor in May 2025.
Before the June 2026 party congress in Potsdam, she said she would not run for party chair and would stay as group leader. At the congress, she, party chair Ines Schwerdtner and Pellmann announced a class struggle from below, aimed at social cuts and military buildup. Supporters cite rents and living costs as her focus. In October 2026, CSU chair Markus Söder called for a firewall to keep other parties from cooperating with hers. Die Linke finished ahead of the CDU in Berlin's September 2026 election.
In their words
“Was wir jetzt brauchen, ist sofort eine Übergewinnsteuer”
