Mayor election in Cologne: Eight candidacies rejected – who will stay in the race?

Mayor election in Cologne: Eight candidacies rejected – who will stay in the race?

There is excitement in Cologne about the upcoming local elections, which will take place on September 14, 2025. The election committee has determined the candidacies for the mayoral election and other offices. Of the 21 applications submitted for the office of mayor, 13 candidates were approved, while eight applications were rejected. These included six individual candidates and candidates from the German Communist Party and the Basic Democratic Party of Germany. The reason for the rejections were partly missing signatures and declarations of consent, according to t-online.de. The city received a total of 1,819 applications, including 56 for the council election.

Those approved for the office of mayor are a colorful mix of different parties. These include Berivan Aymaz from the Greens, Torsten Burmester from the SPD, as well as candidates from the CDU, Die Linke, FDP, AfD and others. The list also includes independent candidates and representatives of smaller parties who could provide a breath of fresh air. Here are the approved candidates:

• Berivan Aymaz (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
• Torsten Burmester (SPD)
• Markus Heinrich Maria Greitemann (CDU)
• Heiner Kockerbeck (Die Linke)
• Volker Görzel (FDP)
• Lars Wolfram (Volt Deutschland)
• Matthias Büschges (AfD)
• Dr. Mark Benecke (Partei für Arbeit, Rechtsstaat, Tierschutz, Elitenförderung und basisdemokratische Initiative)
• Inga Feuser (Gut & Klimafreunde)
• Heike Flora Herden (Partei des Fortschritts)
• Ali Güçlü (parteilos)
• Roberto Campione (Kölner Stadtgesellschaft)
• Hans Mörtter (parteilos)

Election history and challenges

The election committee has also regulated the conditions for the council election, which will also take place on September 14th, and the election to the integration council. Around 813,000 Cologne residents have the right to cast their vote. Voters can choose between ballot voting districts and postal voting, and the deadline for submitting nominations is July 7, 2025, at 6 p.m. These could be colorful cards that could have a lasting impact on the political landscape in Cologne, because the last city council elections have shown that local issues play a decisive role, as stadt-koeln.de addresses.

Upcoming election procedures and their determination will continue to be made public in the press, which ensures a transparent process. On August 1st, the election posters can be put up in the city area, which means the election campaign can really gain momentum. In local elections, every vote has weight because half of the city council is determined by direct mandates and the other half by total votes from reserve lists.

Let's vote!

When voter turnout is taken into account, the trend in local elections is often lower than in state or federal elections. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen how the Cologne population will react to the upcoming election and whether new issues affecting local concerns will drive voters to the polls. The local elections are the heart of local political participation, and with a total of 171 members to be elected for the city council and the district representatives, the mobilization effect should not be underestimated, as the bpb effectively notes.