In 1999 he defeated the chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the Berlin House, Klaus Böger, for the leading place among the SPD’s candidates and was indeed again a member of the Chamber of Deputies, but trailed well behind Diepgen, the mayor.
In 1999, he gained an advantage over Klaus Böger, the SPD's parliamentary chief in Berlin, to take the lead among the SPD's hopefuls. He then returned to the legislative body, although he fell behind Diepgen, the city's top official.