CDU leads Lower Saxony local elections as AfD surges to 16.5%
Conservatives win 27.7% but lose ground; far-right AfD more than doubles its 2021 share in a vote seen as a test for the federal government.
KEY POINTS
- CDU leads with 27.7% (-4.0 pts), SPD 24.5% (-5.5 pts), AfD 16.5% (+11.9 pts)
- Greens 13.6% (-2.3 pts), Linke 5.9% (+3.1 pts), FDP 3.6% (-2.9 pts)
- Wolfsburg: CDU's Weilmann wins outright with 50.1%; Wilhelmshaven: independent Haarmann wins with ~55%
- Hanover: Green mayor Onay faces runoff vs SPD's von der Ohe in two weeks
- Provisional final results expected Monday; seen as barometer for federal mood
The CDU emerged as the strongest party in Lower Saxony's municipal elections with 27.7 percent, according to an Infratest dimap projection for NDR. The Social Democrats fell to 24.5 percent and the Greens to 13.6 percent, while the AfD jumped to 16.5 percent — an 11.9-point gain since 2021.
About 6.3 million voters were eligible to choose more than 2,200 local councils, mayors and district administrators. The provisional final results are expected Monday morning. CDU state leader Sebastian Lechner acknowledged a "credibility problem" and said his party had felt voter anger toward Berlin.
“We have a credibility problem that we need to discuss calmly in the coming weeks.”
In Wolfsburg, CDU incumbent Dennis Weilmann narrowly secured an absolute majority with 50.1 percent. Wilhelmshaven elected independent Eva Maria Haarmann as its first female mayor with roughly 55 percent. Hanover heads to a runoff in two weeks after Green incumbent Belit Onay led but missed an outright majority.
The vote was closely watched nationally after the AfD's state election victory in Saxony-Anhalt and amid Volkswagen's crisis. State elections in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin follow on Sunday.
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