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AfD celebrates historic election result – SPD in North Rhine-Westphalia continues to decline!
Significant changes are emerging in Mülheim and North Rhine-Westphalia in the 2025 local elections: the CDU remains the strongest party, the AfD is making strong gains, while the SPD and the Greens are suffering losses.
AfD celebrates historic election result – SPD in North Rhine-Westphalia continues to decline!
The eagerly awaited local elections took place in North Rhine-Westphalia on September 15, 2025. With almost 13.7 million voters called to the polls, voter turnout was 58.8 percent, a pleasing increase compared to previous elections. While the CDU remained the strongest force with a share of the vote of 33.3 percent, the populists of the AfD literally flourished and were able to almost triple their number of votes with 14.5 percent. Compared to the 2020 elections, the CDU lost slightly, although at that time it was still 34.3 percent.
The Social Democrats under Bärbel Bas, however, suffered a severe setback: with 22.1 percent, they were 2.2 points behind their 2020 result. The Greens, who had already acted uncertainly in the run-up to the election, fell to fourth place with 13.5 percent, a loss of 6.5 points. The Left Party, on the other hand, was able to increase by 1.8 points and ended up at 5.6 percent. NZZ reports that the FDP reached a historic low of just 3.7 percent.
Voter sentiments and issues
Citizens' voting decisions were heavily influenced by issues such as economic policy (36 percent), immigration policy (32 percent) and internal security (24 percent). Among older voters over 60, the CDU and SPD received almost 70 percent of the vote, while among those under 25, the Left Party was the third strongest force with 18 percent. There was also a clear trend: younger voters are increasingly turning to alternatives, while traditional parties are increasingly falling behind , this is how WDR analyzes the voter shifts.
Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst, who ran for the CDU, expressed his conviction that the Christian Democratic Union had achieved its goal and remained the “number one local party”. Nevertheless, he also made it known that the results, especially those of the AfD, should give food for thought. AfD co-chairwoman Alice Weidel described the result as a “huge success”, while SPD chairwoman Bärbel Bas emphasized that the SPD had not experienced a complete disaster, but they now have to seriously think about correcting their strategy.
Runoff elections and mayoral positions
The election not only brought results for the local parliaments, but also crucial mayoral and district council elections, some of which will only be clarified in runoff elections on September 28th. In Cologne, the candidate Berivan Aymaz from the Greens and Torsten Burmester from the SPD face each other. There are further runoff elections in Düsseldorf, Bonn and numerous other cities, often between the CDU and SPD or the Greens. The trend that is emerging in many cities suggests a fragmentation of the electorate and a clear desire for new political impulses , Die Zeit reports.
In conclusion, it must be said that the local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia are not only a reflection of the current political mood in the country, but also represent a challenge for the established parties, which have to reorient themselves in order to win back voters. An exciting chapter in the history of NRW politics has begun.