Overview

• Final results show the CDU at 33.3%, the SPD at 22.1%, and the AfD at 14.5%, a gain of 9.4 points compared with 2020.
• AfD candidates advanced to Sept. 28 mayoral runoffs in Gelsenkirchen, Duisburg, and Hagen, signaling growing influence in the Ruhr industrial belt.
• The vote was the first electoral test for Merz’s four-month-old coalition, with conservatives holding first place as the SPD slipped from its traditional stronghold.
• The Greens recorded the steepest decline, dropping to 13.5% from 20% five years ago, underscoring shifting voter preferences.
• AfD’s advance continued despite its extremist classification by the domestic intelligence agency being suspended pending appeal, with migration and economic worries shaping voter choices.