Gerald Grosz

In 1992, he joined the Freedom Party of Austria's youth organisation, the Ring of Freedom Youth (RFJ). From 1993 to 1996 he was district chairman of the RFJ in Deutschlandsberg. He was then acting chairman of the FPÖ in Deutschlandsberg until 1999, when he began work as a parliamentary secretary for federal FPÖ parliamentarians Beate Hartinger-Klein and Herbert Haupt. From October 2000 to January 2005, he was press spokesman for Herbert Haupt, then-Minister for Social Affairs and, during 2003, Vice-Chancellor. After his departure, he worked in the same position for state secretary Sigisbert Dolinschek until early 2007. Between 2004 and 2005, Grosz was again FPÖ chairman in Deutschlandsberg.

After Jörg Haider left the FPÖ and founded the Alliance for the Future of Austria in April 2005, Grosz quickly joined his new party. He was unanimously elected chairman of the BZÖ's Styria branch at its founding congress in June. He was second on the state list in the 2006 Austrian legislative election, but was not elected. He was subsequently appointed federal general-secretary in October 2006. He served as lead candidate for the municipal elections in Graz in January 2008 and was elected to the city council. In the federal election later that year, he was elected to the National Council.

In April 2009, Grosz was elected one of four federal deputy leaders of the BZÖ under new leader Josef Bucher. He resigned from office in October 2010 due to disagreements over the party's direction. Bucher resigned as chairman after the party's failure in the 2013 Austrian legislative election, and Grosz was elected as his successor. Just 18 months later in March 2015, he stepped down from the position and quit active politics to focus on commercial ventures.[3]

In January 2022, Grosz stated his intention to stand as an independent candidate in the 2022 Austrian presidential election.[9] He officially launched his campaign in June.[10] On 24 August, he announced he had surpassed the 6,000 signatures required to run. By 1 September, he had received over 9,000.[11][12]

Grosz portrayed himself as an anti-establishment, anti-corruption candidate. His campaign slogan was "Make Austria Grosz Again!", a play on his name's similarity to the word groß, meaning "great".[13] He was supported by the BZÖ.[14] He opposed immigration, European integration, and COVID-19 restrictions. He attributed rising inflation and energy prices to sanctions against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, and calls for them to be lifted. He described the war as a "regional conflict". Grosz's campaign focused on social media engagement; he has over 100,000 followers on TikTok.[15] Commentators noted that he siphoned votes from the FPÖ, with whom he shared most positions. Grosz said stated he appeals to ÖVP voters who are dissatisfied with the incumbent government.[16][17]

Grosz won 225,942 votes in the election, a total of 5.57%, placing fifth.