Austrian presidential election, 1998

The Austrian presidential election of 1998 was won by the incumbent president Thomas Klestil, who sought re-election as an independent candidate. The Austrian People's Party, who had originally put him up in 1992, reluctantly supported him again, while the Austrian Social Democratic Party and the Austrian Freedom Party did not propose any competing candidates. Klestils competitors were Heide Schmidt, leader of the Liberal Forum, Gertraud Knoll, the former Lutheran superintendent of Burgenland (supported by the Greens), socialite Richard Lugner and Karl Walter Nowak.