Germany's AfD loses all three mayoral runoffs in Lower Saxony
In the second round of Lower Saxony's municipal elections, candidates from the far-right Alternative for Germany party failed to win any of the three mayoral posts they contested, with rivals from the CDU and other parties prevailing instead.
The second round of municipal elections in the German federal state of Lower Saxony has concluded, with residents choosing mayors and other local leaders. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party fielded candidates for three leadership positions but failed to secure any of them.
In Salzgitter, a city of around 100,000 people, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) representative Frank Klingebiel won decisively with 74.72% of the vote. Klingebiel has served as mayor since 2006. AfD candidate Patricia Meyer received 25.3%. In the town of Munster, independent candidate Anna Adamczak won with 80.5%, against 19.5% for AfD's Christoph Weinand. In Bockenem, independent candidate Jens Lühr won with 69.6%, while AfD contender Felix Mull received 30.4%.
Results in the largest cities
In Hanover, the state capital and largest city in Lower Saxony, Alliance 90/The Greens representative Belit Onay retained his post, having led the city since 2019; he defeated a Social Democratic Party (SPD) candidate in the runoff. In Braunschweig, the state's second-largest city, SPD representative Thorsten Kornblum kept his position, while in Osnabrück, the fourth-largest city, CDU representative Katharina Pötter retained her post. In Oldenburg, the third-largest city, a new leader was elected in the form of Greens candidate Jascha Rohr, and in Göttingen, the fifth-largest city, Greens candidate Onikka Oshiafi won.
The main round of Lower Saxony's municipal elections took place on September 13. It was topped by the CDU, led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, which secured 27.2% of the vote, followed by the SPD with 24.6% and the AfD with 15.9%. Turnout reached 64.6%, up 7.6 percentage points from the 2021 state elections. Four AfD candidates were barred from running over doubts about their commitment to Germany's constitutional order — the state's AfD branch is monitored by the domestic intelligence agency as a right-wing extremist group, a designation the party is contesting in court.
