Overview
- Emmerich secured 23 votes—his 20-member AfD caucus plus at least three from other councillors—against a joint SPD–CDU list that drew 43.
- Under the D’Hondt calculation used for the two deputy posts, the SPD candidate took the first slot while Emmerich’s 23 outscored the CDU nominee’s effective 21.5 for the second seat.
- SPD and CDU had coordinated to keep the AfD from representative offices, proposing Manfred Leichtweis and Werner Wöll; Emmerich said he was surprised by the outcome.
- The ballot was secret and the source of the three non-AfD votes remains unknown, while CDU and SPD leaders condemned the result in sharp terms.
- Many councillors left the chamber during Emmerich’s swearing-in, and the result stands for now with no announced move to overturn it, though a recent Bad Salzuflen case showed removal is procedurally possible.