Overview
- Official results show Yilmaz took 54.1% to nonparty rival Gerrit Derkowski’s 45.9%, with turnout at 43.5%.
- Derkowski was backed by the CDU, FDP and SSW, but the first-round leader (28.7% to Yilmaz’s 24.8%) was overtaken in the runoff.
- Yilmaz, 44, works at the Schleswig-Holstein interior ministry, co-chairs the Green faction on Kiel’s council and is a native of the city.
- He will succeed SPD incumbent Ulf Kämpfer, who did not run again and plans to move into state politics after the April handover.
- He named education, security, a modern administration and climate-centered mobility as initial priorities, while Der Spiegel has reported earlier criticism over his past role in a state extremism unit.