CDU leads Lower Saxony local elections as AfD surges to 16.5% and SPD drops
Projections in Lower Saxony place the CDU first at 27.7% and the SPD second at 24.5%, while voter turnout rose above 50% across more than 29,000 municipal council seats.
Projected statewide results
Projections released by Infratest dimap for NDR at 22:00 placed the Christian Democratic Union ahead in Lower Saxony's local elections with 27.7% of the vote. The Social Democratic Party followed in second place with 24.5%, down from 30.0% in the 2021 elections, while the CDU decreased from 31.7%. Alternative for Germany recorded the largest vote increase, rising from 4.6% in 2021 to 16.5%. The Greens took fourth place with 13.6%, dropping from 15.9%, followed by Die Linke at 5.9% and the Free Democratic Party at 3.6%. Turnout reached 50.67% at polling stations by 16:30, up roughly 6.7 percentage points compared to 2021 in-person turnout, with final preliminary tallies scheduled for Monday morning.
- CDU
- 27.7 %
- AfD
- 16.5 %
- SPD
- 24.5 %
- Grüne
- 13.6 %
- Die Linke
- 5.9 %
- FDP
- 3.6 %
Mayoral and district council outcomes
The municipal vote determined more than 29,000 seats across county assemblies, city councils, and the Hannover regional assembly from a pool of over 68,000 candidates. In the automotive hub of Wolfsburg, incumbent lord mayor Dennis Weilmann of the CDU secured 50.1% of the vote, defeating Karsten Schneider of the SPD at 15.5% and Thomas Schick of the AfD at 14.1%. In Wilhelmshaven, independent candidate Eva Maria Haarmann obtained more than 55% to win election as the city's first female lord mayor. In the state capital Hannover, counting across more than three-quarters of ballots showed incumbent Belit Onay of the Greens leading SPD candidate Axel von der Ohe toward a runoff in two weeks. CDU candidate Peter Karst conceded defeat earlier in the evening after viewing preliminary counts.
Looking at the board here, the election in Hannover is over from my perspective.
- Dennis Weilmann (CDU)
- 50.1 %
- Karsten Schneider (SPD)
- 15.5 %
- Thomas Schick (AfD)
- 14.1 %
Federal tensions and party reactions
The Lower Saxony vote took place one week after state elections in Saxony-Anhalt and one week prior to ballots in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on 20 September. In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, recent polling placed the CDU at 7% ahead of the vote. CDU state leader Sebastian Lechner stated that the party encountered clear public dissatisfaction with federal politics under Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Lechner noted a credibility issue during campaigning and urged the federal coalition to adjust its policy direction, specifically calling for measures addressing fuel prices after the upcoming state elections.
We are fighting united before the state elections on September 20, after which there must be political changes in Berlin.
Local focus and security background
The ballot was the first statewide electoral test since 59-year-old Minister-President Olaf Lies succeeded Stephan Weil as head of the SPD-led state government in 2025. Lies cast his vote in his home municipality of Sande in Friesland, urging residents to focus on municipal issues rather than national debates.
I hope that voters look consciously at the local candidates. It is not a mini federal election, but a genuine personality election. And it is about one's own municipality, town, or district.
State domestic intelligence authorities classified the Lower Saxony AfD branch as an extremist observation object ahead of the vote, prompting legal challenges from the party. Electoral officials disqualified four AfD candidates over doubts regarding constitutional allegiance, including state deputy leader Stephan Bothe in the Lüneburg district administrator race. Lower Saxony's next state parliament election is scheduled for 26 September 2027.
