Voters across North Rhine-Westphalia returned to the polls on September 28 for runoff elections to determine municipal leadership positions throughout Germany's most populous state. The second round of voting became necessary after no candidate secured an absolute majority in the initial September 14 municipal elections. In this decisive round, candidates only need a simple majority to claim victory, setting the stage for potentially tight contests across numerous municipalities.
The runoff elections encompassed significant political territory, with 21 of the state's 23 independent cities still needing to elect their mayors. Additionally, more than 100 towns within administrative districts required mayoral elections, while 15 of 31 districts saw competitive races for district administrator positions. Key urban centers including Dortmund, Duisburg, Gelsenkirchen, and Cologne—the state's only city with over one million residents—featured prominently in the runoff contests.
Political dynamics from the first round showed the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) maintaining its dominant position despite slight losses, securing 33.3 percent of votes for city councils and district assemblies compared to 34.3 percent in 2020. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) captured 22.1 percent, representing a 2.2 percentage point decline from the previous election cycle. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) emerged as the third strongest force, nearly tripling its support to 14.5 percent from 5.1 percent five years earlier.
The Greens experienced significant setbacks, dropping 6.5 percentage points to 13.5 percent after achieving their strongest municipal election result of 20 percent in 2020. Smaller parties included The Left with 5.6 percent and the Free Democratic Party at 3.7 percent. Election authorities indicated that initial results would become available starting at 6:15 PM local time, with interactive maps providing near real-time updates as voting concluded across the state.
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