Today, full-time top officials such as mayors and district administrators will be chosen in 123 runoff elections in Lower Saxony. They are elected for the next eight years.
The most frequently represented candidates are CDU (80) and SPD (72), followed by individual candidates (69), voter groups (13), Greens (8), AfD (3) and Free Voters (1).
An overview of ten special runoff elections that are in focus today.
HANOVER CITY
His election in 2019 was a small sensation: after more than 70 years of SPD rule in Hanover, Belit Onay was the first Green politician to prevail in the state capital. While 32.2 percent in round one was enough for him to move into a runoff against the CDU candidate, this time he even missed out on direct election with 45.6 percent.
Accordingly, Onay is the favorite in the runoff election against SPD challenger Axel von der Ohe, who received 21.5 percent of the vote. Von der Ohe has been head of finance and regulatory affairs in Hanover since 2017.
HANOVER REGION
Unlike in the city, in the Hanover region it is: SPD versus CDU. The SPD candidate Eva Bender received the most votes in the first round with 30.6 percent, ahead of CDU politician Oliver Junk, who was mayor of Goslar for ten years. Bender has been head of education in Hanover since 2024.
Until now, the regional presidency was in the hands of the SPD, or more precisely: Steffen Krach, who has since moved to Berlin, held it. The investigation against him due to initial suspicion of taking advantage in two cases - probably in connection with the subsequent use of a clinic site in Lehrte near Hanover - therefore not only burdened his own Berlin election campaign, but also that of the SPD in Lower Saxony. Krach rejects all allegations.
SALZGITTER
The mayoral election in Salzgitter is particularly special because the AfD made it into the runoff election here - as well as in the cities of Munster and Bockenem. If she wins a top municipal office, it would be a first for the party in Lower Saxony.
In Salzgitter, AfD politician Patricia Mair is challenging long-time incumbent Frank Klingebiel of the CDU, who has been mayor since 2006. In round one, Klingebiel achieved 45.6 percent approval, Mair received 25.7 percent of the vote. In the other two runoff elections with AfD participation, the AfD candidates were also well behind the leading candidates in the first round.
OSNABRÜCK DISTRICT
With her election in 2019, Anna Kebschull became, according to the party, the first Green politician to head a district - previously only two Green Party politicians had won a district election. This time, however, she is competing as an individual applicant. She justifies this by saying that in recent years she has noticed "that politics only works if we work together and don't allow ourselves to be restricted by party books."
With 33.8 percent, she achieved the highest share of votes in the Osnabrück district in round one, ahead of CDU candidate Thomas Spieker (25.0).
LÜNEBURG
Similar to Kebschull in the Osnabrück district, a Green incumbent is also running as an individual candidate in Lüneburg: Mayor Claudia Kalisch says she wants to make it clear that she has always conducted her office in a non-partisan and non-ideological manner. But she “continues to be a member of the Greens with heart and soul”. In round one, she was ahead of Heiko Meyer (28.2 percent) from the Independent voter group with 36.1 percent.
The Green Party's state leadership is relaxed about the individual applications of its two office-holders. Co-country leader Maximilian Strautmann said that both of them could still be recognized “with a green profile” and that he saw no distance from the party. “But I can also very much understand that both of them say that we want to make an offer for everyone and not just for the Greens.”
GOETTINGEN
There will definitely be a new color in the town hall in Göttingen. Incumbent Petra Broistedt (SPD) did not run again - and the new SPD candidate Florian Dinger missed the runoff election. The Green Party politician Onyeka Oshionwu achieved this with 41.4 percent and the CDU candidate Ehsan Kangarani with 27.9 percent.
Curious: Even before the polling stations closed two weeks ago, an advertising company had already put up the first Green Party posters for the runoff election. The party regretted this and the call for a runoff election was temporarily covered up.
BRAUNSCHWEIG
As with his first election in 2021, Mayor Thorsten Kornblum from the SPD is going into a runoff against the CDU. This time he achieved 43.3 percent in the first round of voting, ahead of CDU politician Maximilian Pohler with 17.2 percent. With almost 200,000 eligible voters, the runoff election is the second largest in a single city in Lower Saxony, only Hanover is larger.
OLDENBURG
In Oldenburg, state parliament member Ulf Prange from the SPD and the independent Jascha Rohr, who is supported by both the Greens and the CDU, fought a close race in round one. Prange received 33.2 percent of the vote, Rohr received 30.5 percent. A successor is being sought for Jürgen Krogmann (SPD), who has been in office as mayor since 2014.
OSNABRÜCK
In Lower Saxony's fourth largest city, Osnabrück, a CDU politician has been in charge since 2021: Katharina Pötter. In round one of this year's mayoral election, she was also ahead with 42.2 percent, ahead of the Green state parliament member Volker Bajus with 22.3 percent. In 2021, the runoff election also took place between these two parties, with Pötter prevailing against the then opposing candidate with 56 percent of the vote.
COUNTY OF BENTHEIM
The district election in the county of Bentheim two weeks ago was a real thriller: only a few hundred votes separated the three candidates. The individual applicant and high school principal Kai Schmidt, known on YouTube as “Lehrerschmidt”, came in first place with 33.9 percent, and the SPD applicant Silvia Pünt-Kohoff also made it to the runoff with 33.6 percent. CDU candidate Anja Terhorst failed just behind with 32.5 percent.
