CDU strongest force in local elections in Lower Saxony

The CDU became the strongest force in the local elections in Lower Saxony. According to the calculation by the Infratest dimap institute for the NDR, the CDU's vote worsened from 31.7 to 27.7 percent compared to the 2021 local elections. The CDU was ahead of the SPD with 24.5 percent and the third-placed AfD, which was seen at 16.5 percent. The Greens followed with 13.6 percent. According to the projection, the Left was at 5.9 percent and the FDP at 3.6 percent.

The projection takes into account the results of the city council elections in the independent cities, the district council elections in the rural districts and the election of the regional assembly in the Hanover region. The election management did not expect a nationwide result that would provide information about the strength of the parties until early Monday.

CDU state leader Sebastian Lechner spoke of an election success for the CDU under difficult conditions. "The discontent with Berlin was clearly noticeable during the election campaign," he said. Traditionally, the CDU is the strongest party in Lower Saxony. SPD state chairman and Prime Minister Olaf Lies described the result in the evening as difficult for his party: "We all hoped for more."

According to the projection, the CDU, SPD, Greens and FDP lost between 2.3 and 5.5 percentage points compared to the local elections five years ago. The AfD, on the other hand, gained almost twelve percentage points, while the Left gained around three percentage points. In 2021, the CDU became the strongest force, just ahead of the SPD, with the Greens following in third place.

Runoff elections expected in several cities

In Lower Saxony, around 6.3 million eligible voters were called to elect almost 2,200 local parliaments and to directly elect around 400 district administrators, mayors and mayors. More people voted in the election than five years ago. According to the election management, voter turnout was around 50 percent late on Sunday afternoon.

Among other things, the counting of the mayoral election in the state capital Hanover, where city hall boss Belit Onay (Greens) is running for a second term in office, was not yet finished late on Sunday evening. After more than two thirds of the votes were counted, the incumbent mayor Belit Onay (Greens) was well ahead of his SPD challenger Axel von der Ohe. However, neither of them achieved an absolute majority. The runoff election is scheduled for September 27, 2026.

In Braunschweig, the second largest city in Lower Saxony after Hanover, incumbent Thomas Kornblum (SPD) was with 43.3 percent, well ahead of the second-placed CDU candidate Maximilian Pohler with 17.2 percent. However, he also missed an absolute majority and will have to go into a runoff against Pohler on September 27th. There will also be a runoff election in the mayoral election in Stade in two weeks. There Kai Koeser (SPD) received 34.6 percent of the votes, Arne Kramer (CDU) received 33.1 percent.