Overview
- Emmerich secured 23 votes in a secret ballot, three more than the AfD's 20-member faction.
- The SPD/CDU joint slate drew 43 votes, yet the D'Hondt method awarded the second deputy post to Emmerich over CDU candidate Werner Wöll.
- The city council counts 66 members, with the AfD holding 20 seats in the new term.
- CDU leader Sascha Kurth labeled the outcome a "disaster," and SPD figures criticized the defections, with the identities of the extra voters still unknown.
- The 72-year-old former bank clerk and AfD faction leader can now stand in for Mayor Andrea Henze at official ceremonies.