2025 North Rhine-Westphalia local elections

2025 North Rhine-Westphalia local elections
← 2020
14 September 2025
2030 →
All municipal and district council seats in North Rhine-Westphalia
Turnout56.8% (Increase 4.9%)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party CDU SPD AfD
Last election 1,213 seats,
34.3% 		912 seats,
24.3% 		185 seats,
5.0%
Seats won 1,205 827 552
Seat change Decrease 8 Decrease 86 Increase 366
Popular vote 2,618,138 1,739,246 1,140,055
Percentage 33.3% 22.1% 14.5%
Swing Decrease 1.0 Decrease 2.2 Increase 9.4
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Party Greens Left FDP
Last election 705 seats,
20.0% 		137 seats, 3.8% 198 seats, 5.6%
Seats won 466 200 131
Seat change Decrease 239 Increase 63 Decrease 66
Popular vote 1,062,436 438,452 289,700
Percentage 13.5% 5.6% 3.7%
Swing Decrease 6.5 Increase 1.8 Decrease 1.9
Leading party by district

Local elections in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia took place on 14 September 2025 to elect district, municipal, and city councils and local boards, as well as mayors in most cities and district administrators in most districts. Runoff elections for mayors and district administrators will be held on 28 September if necessary.[1][2] There was no five percent hurdle unlike in federal elections.[3]

Voting eligibility

All German and EU citizens aged 16 or over on election day are eligible to vote if they had lived in a municipality for at least sixteen days.[1]

Events

During the election seven candidates of Alternative for Germany (AfD) died, sparking conspiracy theories on social media.[4] The candidates were between the ages of 42 and 80 and - with the exception of one 42-year-old man, who committed suicide - died of natural causes, according to police. Martin Vincentz, chair of the AfD North Rhine-Westphalia said that there was "no indication of an unnatural cause of death", but "if many people see the possibility of a political murder, it's a consequence of the ruthless fight against the AfD over the past few years."[5]

The elected mayor of Herdecke Iris Stalzer (SPD) was stabbed by her adopted daughter on 7 October 2025. She was found in a life-threatening condition and taken to hospital via helicopter.[6] Stalzer has since made a full recovery and was sworn in as the mayor of Herdecke on 4 November 2025.[7]

In 2025, the far-right Third Way party won a seat in the North Rhein-Westphalia local elections.[8]

Results

The following shows the result of the elections to the district councils and district free cities.

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Christian Democratic Union (CDU)2,618,13833.261,205Decrease 8
Social Democratic Party (SPD)1,739,24622.10827Decrease 86
Alternative for Germany (AfD)1,140,05514.48552Increase 366
Alliance 90/The Greens (GRÜNE)1,062,43613.50466Decrease 239
The Left (DIE LINKE)438,4525.57200Increase 63
Free Democratic Party (FDP)289,7003.68131Decrease 66
Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW)85,8841.0940New
Volt Germany (Volt)86,9261.1032Increase 19
Die PARTEI (Die PARTEI)58,5270.7426Decrease 8
Action Party for Animal Welfare (Tierschutz hier!)14,2430.186Increase 3
Free Voters (FW)8,8620.114New
Human Environment Animal Protection Party (Tierschutzpartei)7,7080.103Steady
Pirate Party (PIRATEN)6,3300.083Decrease 7
Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP)2,4260.032Decrease 1
Family Party (FAMILIE)2,0850.031Decrease 1
Centre Party (ZENTRUM)1,6150.021Steady
German Communist Party (DKP)8250.011Decrease 1
Other parties13,0810.17–Decrease 6
Grouping of electors293,3263.73148Decrease 23
Independents1,6340.02–Steady
Total7,871,499100.003,648Increase 48
Valid votes7,871,49998.99Increase 0.5%
Invalid/blank votes80,2491.01Decrease 0.5%
Total votes7,951,748100.00–
Registered voters/turnout13,998,66956.80Increase 4.9%
Source: North Rhine-Westphalia - State Returning Officer - Minister of the Interior[9]

Results in independent cities

City councils
City CDU SPD AfD Grüne Linke FDP BSW Volt PARTEI WG Others
Cologne 19.9 19.9 9.1 25.0 10.8 3.9 1.9 5.0 1.8 2.5 0.1
Düsseldorf 33.5 14.9 10.6 21.9 6.4 4.9 1.6 2.5 1.0 1.6 1.0
Dortmund 22.1 24.9 16.6 16.5 8.0 2.1 2.0 1.4 1.8 2.6 2.1
Essen 30.2 22.6 16.9 12.3 5.8 1.9 1.5 1.5 1.8 3.6 1.7
Duisburg 17.4 32.6 21.2 9.1 6.0 1.5 2.1 0.5 0.4 9.2 0.2
Bochum 20.0 28.1 14.9 14.4 9.5 1.9 1.7 1.5 1.3 5.9 0.7
Wuppertal 22.2 28.8 17.1 11.4 8.4 4.2 2.5 0.4 1.4 2.9 0.5
Bielefeld 29.4 21.7 12.2 15.0 10.5 4.8 1.2 1.2 1.6 1.6 0.8
Bonn 31.9 11.8 6.0 26.3 8.7 2.9 1.1 2.7 0.9 7.0 0.5
Münster 31.3 14.1 4.5 31.6 8.4 2.9 – 4.0 1.1 0.9 1.0
Mönchengladbach 33.2 28.4 15.6 8.6 5.6 2.8 2.1 1.3 1.9 0.4
Gelsenkirchen 19.2 30.4 29.9 4.6 4.3 2.7 1.6 – 0.8 4.4 2.2
Aachen 32.8 13.4 7.7 27.8 7.7 2.7 1.7 3.0 1.3 1.7 0.1
Krefeld 30.5 25.9 15.6 11.2 5.5 3.5 – – 1.7 2.8 3.3
Oberhausen 26.8 26.1 21.5 8.2 5.7 2.1 2.3 – 2.3 2.3 2.8
Hagen 26.4 19.9 22.4 7.4 3.9 3.0 3.1 – 1.1 12.0 0.8
Hamm 22.9 46.1 16.3 4.7 2.7 2.0 1.8 0.9 – 2.5 –
Mülheim an der Ruhr 30.1 25.5 15.1 14.2 4.7 3.2 – – 2.2 4.7 0.3
Leverkusen 31.0 21.5 15.3 10.9 5.1 3.3 – 2.5 – 10.0 0.4
Solingen 29.9 17.7 15.0 11.3 5.2 2.0 – – 1.3 16.5 1.0
Herne 17.8 37.0 22.4 8.5 5.6 1.8 2.2 – – 3.5 1.2
Bottrop 26.8 31.6 21.8 6.7 4.7 2.4 – – – – 6.1
Remscheid 27.0 31.3 16.1 8.4 6.4 4.2 – – – 6.6 –
Mayors
City Elected mayor Party/Ticket Result
1st round 2nd round
Cologne Torsten Burmester SPD 21.3% 53.5%
Düsseldorf Stephan Keller CDU 43.6% 60.5%
Dortmund Alexander Kalouti CDU 17.0% 52.9%
Essen Thomas Kufen CDU 42.3% 57.1%
Bochum Jörg Lukat SPD/Grüne 43.1% 64.7%
Wuppertal Miriam Scherff SPD 33.3% 74.6%
Bielefeld Christiana Bauer CDU 33.0% 51.4%
Bonn Guido Déus CDU 38.9% 54.0%
Münster Tilman Fuchs Grüne 41.3% 57.9%
Mönchengladbach Felix Heinrichs SPD 43.4% 63.6%
Gelsenkirchen Andrea Henze SPD 37.0% 66.9%
Aachen Michael Ziemons CDU 40.5% 56.0%
Krefeld Frank Meyer SPD 35.9% 55.0%
Oberhausen Thorsten Berg SPD 31.1% 51.3%
Hagen Dennis Rehbein CDU 25.1 71.7%
Hamm Marc Herter SPD 63.6%
Mülheim an der Ruhr Nadia Khalaf SPD 28.0% 50.1%
Leverkusen Stefan Hebbel CDU 35.9% 56.6%
Solingen Daniel Flemm CDU 31.7% 57.8%
Herne Frank Dudda SPD 51.5%
Bottrop Matthias Buschfeld SPD 38.5% 61.9%
Remscheid Sven Wolf SPD 41.5% 68.0%

Results in districts

District councils
City CDU SPD AfD Grüne Linke FDP BSW Volt PARTEI WG Others
Recklinghausen 33.4 27.5 19.6 9.3 4.4 2.7 2.4 0.4 0.2 – –
Rhein-Sieg-Kreis 38.7 19.8 13.3 14.6 3.8 3.8 1.9 2.5 – 1.2 0.5
Aachen 36.7 19.8 12.8 16.1 5.7 3.1 1.1 2.1 1.6 0.9 –
Mettmann 36.1 16.9 14.6 14.5 4.3 5.5 – – – 4.0 4.1
Rhein-Erft-Kreis 37.2 20.9 14.7 13.3 4.4 3.5 1.9 0.8 – 2.2 1.1
Wesel 33.2 29.0 13.5 10.8 5.5 3.5 – 0.6 – 3.9 –
Rhein-Kreis Neuss 38.8 22.0 12.7 12.0 3.8 5.0 0.8 0.6 1.5 1.9 0.8
Steinfurt 39.6 22.7 10.8 13.8 5.1 4.0 – – – 4.0 –
Märkischer Kreis 37.0 19.1 18.3 7.8 5.8 4.6 1.5 – – 5.9 –
Unna 27.2 30.8 17.0 10.0 4.7 2.7 1.4 1.1 0.3 4.8 0.1
Borken 47.6 15.0 10.1 9.6 3.8 4.3 1.3 – – 8.2 –
Gütersloh 39.7 18.2 13.7 13.0 4.6 4.2 – 0.6 – 6.0 –
Lippe 28.3 27.0 16.9 11.8 4.4 4.1 – – 0.9 3.5 3.2
Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis 26.0 28.9 16.7 12.9 5.5 4.5 2.0 0.1 1.2 2.1 0.2
Kleve 43.4 18.1 13.0 12.4 4.6 4.8 – – – 3.7 –
Minden-Lübbecke 33.1 26.5 18.1 8.9 4.8 4.8 – – 0.3 3.5 0.0
Paderborn 44.5 12.0 15.1 14.3 5.2 3.4 1.3 – 1.5 2.7 –
Soest 39.5 19.9 13.8 10.6 3.8 5.1 1.5 – 0.1 5.8 –
Viersen 40.5 16.3 13.2 15.7 4.2 5.1 – 1.1 2.3 1.7 –
Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis 37.3 17.6 12.0 16.8 4.6 4.6 – 3.2 – 3.7 –
Warendorf 41.2 17.9 10.8 13.2 4.7 4.3 – – 0.3 5.8 1.7
Siegen-Wittgenstein 32.2 25.4 17.0 7.9 4.8 4.8 – 2.2 – 3.1 2.6
Oberbergischer Kreis 36.3 20.5 18.1 9.6 4.3 4.0 2.4 – – 4.9 –
Düren 38.6 21.0 17.9 9.0 3.8 2.8 2.1 0.7 – 4.1 –
Hochsauerlandkreis 46.6 22.3 12.1 7.2 3.2 3.9 – – – 4.7 –
Heinsberg 46.7 13.8 16.2 11.1 3.8 3.8 – – 0.4 4.3 –
Herford 29.8 29.6 18.1 9.0 5.2 3.3 – 0.3 1.9 2.9 –
Coesfeld 47.1 15.6 9.1 16.0 3.5 3.7 – – – 3.2 1.8
Euskirchen 34.7 24.7 16.0 8.5 4.0 6.6 1.1 – – 4.0 0.5
Höxter 44.8 15.6 14.5 8.8 3.3 3.5 – – – 9.5 –
Olpe 49.1 17.9 12.0 8.1 2.5 2.9 0.5 – – 6.9 –
District administrators[10]
City Elected administrator Party/Ticket Result
1st round 2nd round
Recklinghausen Bodo Klimpel CDU/FDP 39.8% 51.9%
Rhein-Sieg-Kreis Sebastian Schuster CDU 45.0% 56.2%
Aachen Tim Grüttemeier CDU 44.3% 62.5%
Mettmann Bettina Warnecke CDU 57.9%
Rhein-Erft-Kreis Frank Rock CDU 45.9% 62.9%
Wesel Ingo Brohl CDU/Grüne 46.6% 57.4%
Rhein-Kreis Neuss Katharina-Bernhardine Reinhold CDU 45.9% 62.8%
Steinfurt Martin Sommer Independent 28.1% 70.5%
Märkischer Kreis Ralf Michael Schwarzkopf CDU 56.2%
Unna Mario Löhr SPD 58.7%
Borken Kai Zwicker CDU 62.5%
Gütersloh Ina Laukötter CDU 59.2%
Lippe Meinolf Haase CDU 39.8% 55.6%
Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis Jan-Christoph Schaberick SPD 37.6% 55.9%
Kleve No election
Minden-Lübbecke No election
Paderborn Christoph Rüther CDU 53.8%
Soest Heinrich Frieling CDU 48.2% 60.3%
Viersen Bennet Gielen CDU 47.0% 59.2%
Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis Arne von Boettischer CDY 40.8% 56.9%
Warendorf Olaf Gericke CDU/FDP 64.6%
Siegen-Wittgenstein Andreas Müller SPD 44.2% 62.2%
Oberbergischer Kreis Klaus Grootens CDU/FDP 43.2% 61.7%
Düren Ralf Nolten CDU 44.4% 59.8%
Hochsauerlandkreis Thomas Grosche CDU 63.2%
Heinsberg Stephan Pusch CDU 62.6%
Herford Mirco Schmidt CDU 43.6% 53.8%
Coesfeld Christian Schulze Pellengahr CDU 67.8%
Euskirchen Markus Ramers SPD 68.1%
Höxter Michael Stickeln CDU 64.5%
Olpe Theo Melcher CDU 60.8%

Ruhr Parliament

Party Votes % +/– Seats +/–
Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) 584,829 28.2 Decrease1.1 29 Steady0
Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) 531,691 25.7 Decrease1.5 26 Decrease1
Alternative for Germany (AfD) 386,861 18.7 Increase11.6 19 Increase12
Alliance 90/The Greens (GRÜNE) 232,427 11.2 Decrease9.1 11 Decrease9
The Left (LINKE) 120,833 5.8 Increase1.7 6 Increase2
Action Party for Animal Welfare (TIERSCHUTZ) 45,819 2.2 Increase0.2 0 Steady0
Free Democratic Party (FDP) 44,150 2.1 Decrease1.6 0 Decrease4
Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) 40,792 2.0 New 0 New
Die PARTEI 27,421 1.3 Decrease0.8 0 Steady0
Volt Germany (Volt) 25,753 1.2 Increase0.7 0 Steady0
Family Party of Germany (FAMILIE) 8,932 0.4 New 0 New
Voter Initiative NRW (WIN) 6,589 0.3 New 0 New
Team Todenhöfer 5,518 0.3 New 0 New
The Homeland (Heimat) 2,938 0.1 New 0 New
Antifascist, Independent, Progressive (AUF Ruhr) 2,657 0.1 New 0 New
GUT 1,650 0.1 New 0 New
Party of Humanists (PdH) 1,595 0.1 New 0.1
Total 1,070,455 100.0 91 Steady0
Blank/invalid votes 25,072 1.2
Registered voters/turnout 3,876,360 54.1 Increase7.0

Opinion polls

Statewide (2025)

Polling Firm Polling date CDU SPD GRÜNE FDP AfD LINKE BSW Others
2025 election 14 September 2025 33.3 22.1 13.5 3.7 14.5 5.6 1.1 6.2
INSA 21 August 2025 36 23 10 4 15 6 3 3
Forsa 9 July 2025 32 22 14 3 14 6 2 7
2020 election 13 September 2020 34.3 24.3 20 5.6 5 3.8 — 7

References

  1. ^ a b "Kommunalwahlen". Ministry of Internal Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia. Retrieved 23 February 2025.
  2. ^ "NRW-Kommunalwahl 2025 ist am 14. September". WDR (in German). 26 September 2024. Retrieved 23 February 2025.
  3. ^ "NRW-Kommunalwahlen 2025: Höhere Wahlbeteiligung, CDU stärkste Kraft". www1.wdr.de (in German). 15 September 2025. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
  4. ^ "Alternative for Germany candidates' deaths spark conspiracies". euronews. 5 September 2025. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  5. ^ "AfD-Kandidaten sterben im Kommunalwahlkampf: Es kursieren Verschwörungstheorien - was ist dran?". www1.wdr.de (in German). 4 September 2025. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  6. ^ S.A, Telewizja Polska. "German mayor-elect accuses adopted daughter of stabbing and torture". tvpworld.com. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  7. ^ Zeitung, Stuttgarter (4 November 2025). "Iris Stalzer nach Messerangriff: SPD-Politikerin als Bürgermeisterin in Herdecke vereidigt". stuttgarter-zeitung.de (in German). Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  8. ^ "Shock neo-nazi council victory in German elections".
  9. ^ https://www.wahlergebnisse.nrw/kommunalwahlen/2025/aktuell/a000000kw2500.shtml
  10. ^ "Kommunalwahlen 2025".
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_North_Rhine-Westphalia_local_elections