Overview
- The CDU consolidates gains, taking Dortmund from the SPD after nearly eight decades and adding wins in cities such as Bielefeld and Leverkusen, while the Greens lose Bonn and Aachen and secure a first-ever mayor in Münster.
- The SPD records a mixed night, regaining Cologne as Torsten Burmester wins with 53.5 percent and holding key posts in Duisburg and Gelsenkirchen.
- The AfD fails to win any mayoral runoffs, with candidates defeated in Duisburg, Gelsenkirchen and Hagen despite council-level growth.
- A counting error in Mülheim overturns the preliminary SPD lead: the city now shows CDU incumbent Marc Buchholz ahead by more than 100 votes, with formal confirmation by the Wahlausschuss expected Thursday and the SPD signaling legal review.
- Several races are razor‑thin and could face recounts, including Siegen decided by 10 votes and Datteln by three, while Chancellor Friedrich Merz casts the results as an instruction for the federal government.