Overview

• Alexander Omar Kalouti of the CDU won Dortmund with 52.9 percent, ending the SPD’s decades-long hold on the mayor’s office.
• SPD incumbents and candidates blocked AfD bids in Duisburg and Gelsenkirchen, with Sören Link on 78.6 percent and Andrea Henze on 66.9 percent, while CDU’s Dennis Rehbein beat the AfD in Hagen with 71.7 percent.
• The Greens took Münster as Tilman Fuchs won 57.9 percent but lost Aachen to Michael Ziemons (CDU) and Bonn to Guido Déus (CDU).
• Torsten Burmester (SPD) captured Cologne over Berivan Aymaz (Greens), and Bochum went to Jörg Lukat (SPD/Greens) with 64.7 percent.
• About 147 runoffs were held across NRW, with turnout notably higher in AfD-contested cities such as Duisburg and Gelsenkirchen than in prior runoffs.