Overview

• CDU holds Düsseldorf and Essen and gains Bonn, Aachen, Bielefeld and Leverkusen, extending its reach in major city halls.
• SPD regains Cologne with Torsten Burmester at about 53.5 percent and retains Bochum and Wuppertal, even as Dortmund switches to the CDU.
• The Greens secure their first mayoralty in Münster but lose Bonn and Aachen and fall short in Cologne, underscoring a mixed result.
• The AfD, though stronger in councils, fails to win mayoral runoffs in Duisburg, Gelsenkirchen and Hagen as the party remains blocked from big-city posts.
• Mülheim’s corrected tally, cited as a human error from a postal-vote mix-up, now shows Buchholz ahead; the election board meets Oct. 2 while the SPD seeks legal review and recount calls rise in razor-thin races such as Siegen and Datteln.