[13] On 13 July, NEOS announced it had gathered 3,100 signatures for the upcoming election, exceeding the 2,600 required to appear on ballots nationwide.

[14] On 5 September, industrialist, former Liberal Forum politician, and NEOS financier Hans Peter Haselsteiner began campaigning for the party.

[26] NEOS suffered a setback in the Burgenland and Styria state elections, both held on 31 May, failing to enter either Landtag.

[27] They likewise failed to win seats in the Upper Austrian state election on 27 September, falling short of the threshold with 3.47% of votes.

[28] In February, federal deputy leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger was confirmed as NEOS's top candidate for the Vienna state election, which took place on 11 October.

[30] In the 2016 presidential election, NEOS declined to specifically endorse any candidate, instead providing "selective support" to both Alexander van der Bellen of the Greens and independent Irmgard Griss.

"[34] Van der Bellen and Griss placed second and third in the first round of the presidential election, winning 21.3% and 18.9% of votes respectively.

[35] In the February 2017 municipal elections in Graz, Austria's second largest city, NEOS won 3.94% of votes and one seat.

[36] In March 2017, NEOS member Christoph Vavrik faced harsh criticism for a homophobic Facebook post he had made in November of the previous year.

Under pressure from his party, he agreed to resign from the National Council, but instead unexpectedly defected to the ÖVP group on 30 March.

[38] NEOS again held public primaries for their federal list, in which over 3,500 people voted; Strolz was elected top candidate, while deputy leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger was third, Gerald Loacker fourth, and Sepp Schellhorn fifth.

In October 2017, NEOS announced it would run in the upcoming state elections in Lower Austria, Tyrol, and Salzburg.

[44] However, in the Carinthian state election on 4 March, the NEOS alliance fell well short of the electoral threshold, winning just 2.14% of votes.

[45] The party achieved major success in the Salzburg state election on 22 April, winning 7.27% of votes and three seats under lead candidate Sepp Schellhorn.

It was dubbed the "Dirndl coalition", after a traditional dress which is coloured similarly to the parties involved (black, green, and pink).

[47] Andrea Klambauer became NEOS's first state cabinet member, serving as Minister for Housing, Childcare, Families, Science, Adult Education, Women, Equal Opportunity, Generations, and Integration.

[49] At a party meeting on 23 June 2018, federal deputy leader and Vienna branch chairwoman Beate Meinl-Reisinger was elected Strolz's successor with 94.8% of votes.

After her election, she emphasised her commitment to human rights, pro-Europeanism, consensus-seeking, and opposition to authoritarianism, politicisation of civil society, and political polarisation.

In the lead-up, NEOS announced an alliance with Helmut Brandstätter, former editor of Kurier, who was placed second on the federal list.

A day before the announcement, Brandstätter published Kurz & Kickl - Their Game with Power and Fear, a book detailing his perspective on the outgoing ÖVP–FPÖ government.

[54] Irmgard Griss announced she would not seek re-election to the National Council, citing age and the time commitment necessary to serve.

The party's two most senior government officials, Salzburg state councillor Andrea Klambauer and Viennese vice-mayor Christoph Wiederkehr, were elected as deputy leaders.

[64] In a 2016 analysis by the University of Vienna, political scientists David Johann, Marcelo Jenny, and Sylvia Kritzinger described NEOS as a "classic party of the centre".

By locating NEOS between the ÖVP and the Greens across different policy areas, they stated the party can "be seen as representing a modern, liberal affluence.

"[65] In its party statute, NEOS describes itself as a democratic movement that "represent[s] a political culture of respect, in which readiness for discussion, undogmatic solution orientation and freedom of expression count as well as transparency and the participation of people in all processes of opinion formation."

[66] The regional organization for Austrians abroad, NEOS X – International, founded in 2012, represents their concerns, calls for a separate constituency and the simplification of voting in elections.

The party's donors were listed online; originally, they did not accept anonymous donations, the proceeds of which were passed on to charitable organisations.

Industrialist and former Liberal Forum politician Hans Peter Haselsteiner donated €200,000 to NEOS in the first half of 2013.