Frank Rock remains district administrator: CDU triumphs with strong voter turnout!

Frank Rock remains district administrator: CDU triumphs with strong voter turnout!

Frank Rock remains district administrator of the Rhein-Erft district. In the runoff election on September 28, 2025, the CDU candidate won 62.9 percent of the votes against Iris Heinisch from the SPD, who received 37.1 percent. In the first round of voting, which took place on September 14th, Rock received 45.9 percent, while Heinisch received 25.2 percent. Since none of the candidates achieved an absolute majority, a runoff election was necessary, which was now clearly decided in Rock's favor. WDR also reports that voter turnout in the Rhein-Erft district was 58.51 percent and that there was good mobilization of voters.

In addition to the district election, elections for the mayor's office also took place in five municipalities on the same day. In Kerpen, the SPD candidate Thomas Jurczyk won against Harald Stingl from the CDU. In Frechen, Kai Uwe Tietz won with 53.98 percent over Gerd Georg Koslowski (CDU). In Brühl, the CDU candidate Marc Prokop was able to take over the office from Dieter Freytag (SPD), who was no longer running. Pulheim remains in the hands of Frank Keppeler, who successfully defended his office with 53.36 percent, while in Bergheim Volker Mießeler (CDU) won against Wolfgang Rudolf Linke (AfD) with an impressive 82.24 percent. These results demonstrate an increase in SPD representation, despite the loss of the mayor's office in Brühl.

What about voter turnout?

An exciting question that many have asked themselves. Were the elections in the Rhein-Erft district a reflection of the general voter turnout in Germany? If you look back at the numbers from the last local elections in 2020, the values ​​back then were 53.97 percent. This year's figure of over 58 percent shows a positive trend in voter activity compared to recent years. A circumstance that also depends on the national perspective Voter turnout in state elections shows that participation varies greatly depending on the federal state.

What's next?

The local elections not only decide on mayors, but also on the composition of the city councils and the district council. The result of these elections will have an impact on the political landscape in the Rhein-Erft district. In particular, the results from the 2020 district council election, in which the CDU with 30 seats and the SPD with 20 seats became the strongest factions, lay the foundation for future political work in the district. It will be interesting to see how the balance of power will shift as a result of the current election results.

Overall, it can be seen that the elections in the Rhein-Erft district were not only characterized by an exciting head-to-head race, but also by a committed electorate that actively participated in shaping their local representation. With new faces on many official fronts, both county and city, a dynamic period full of political challenges and opportunities lies ahead.