NRW Elections See SPD Gains, CDU Advances, and AfD Setbacks
DÜSSELDORF – the Social Democratic Party (SPD) made critically important gains in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) municipal elections, reclaiming mayoralties in Oberhausen and Bochum, while the Christian Democratic union (CDU) also saw successes, winning in Cologne, Aachen, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Essen, and Bielefeld. The results, announced Sunday, also indicate a setback for the Alternative for Germany (AfD), with their candidates failing to advance in several key races.
In Cologne,SPD candidate Sven Schaller secured victory after ten years of a non-partisan governance under Henriette Reker,who had governed with a coalition of Greens and CDU. Schaller defeated CDU-backed candidate Josef Sax. In Oberhausen, SPD challenger Thorsten Berg won with 51.3 percent of the vote against CDU incumbent Daniel Schranz. Though, in Leverkusen, the SPD lost control of the town hall, with CDU candidate Stefan Hebbel defeating incumbent Uwe Richrath with 43.4 percent.
The Greens experienced mixed results, losing mayoralties in Aachen and Bonn. In Aachen,CDU’s Michael Ziemons defeated incumbent Sibylle Keupen (Greens) with 56.0 percent to 44.0 percent. In Bonn,Guido Déus (CDU) won against Katja Dörner (Greens) with 53.9 percent to 46.1 percent. The Greens did achieve a win in Münster, where Tilman Fuchs was elected as the city’s first Green mayor, receiving 57.9 percent of the vote.
Other key results include: Düsseldorf, where CDU incumbent Stephan Keller prevailed with 60.5 percent against Green Clara Gerlach; Essen, where CDU’s Thomas Kufen won with 57.1 percent; and Bochum, where SPD/Green-nominated Jörg Lukat secured 64.7 percent of the vote. In Bielefeld, Christiana Bauer (CDU) narrowly defeated Ingo Nürnberger (SPD) with 51.4 percent.
