Local elections in Lower Saxony: CDU remains the strongest force despite losses

If you look at the results of the Lower Saxony local elections, then the bottom line for most people is: Not quite as bad as feared, but no reason for relief either.

Nationwide, the CDU remains the strongest force at district level with 27.2 percent. That is 4.5 percent less than in the last local elections in 2021, a setback, but not a downfall - for party leader Sebastian Lechner (CDU), who passed responsibility on to Berlin early in the evening.

Federal politics was a topic at every election campaign stand. He speaks of a “credibility problem” and that they “delivered too little”. However, in the 2027 state elections in Lower Saxony, he believes he has a chance of replacing the red-green coalition.

The SPD suffered even greater losses: it received 5.4 percent less than in the last election. Nationwide it ends up at 24.6 percent. Right behind: The AfD as the third strongest force with 15.9 percent - that's 11.3 percent more than in 2021.

Things went bitterly for the Greens, who were almost able to maintain their result at 14.1 percent (minus 1.8 percent), but still slipped to fourth place. All of these numbers refer to the preliminary result - the official final result is not yet available on Monday morning.

In addition to the AfD, the Left also recorded significant gains. This time the party got 6 percent, an increase of 3.2 percent. The results of the Saxony-Anhalt election appear to have mobilized more voters in Lower Saxony: voter turnout rose by 7.6 percent to 64.6 percent. Patience was therefore required at some polling stations; from midday onwards people were queuing in many places.

Around 6.5 million people were called to vote - more than three times as many as in Saxony-Anhalt. However, 16-year-olds and EU citizens are also allowed to vote in local elections in Lower Saxony.

In many cities, not only the local parliaments (district councils, councils and municipal councils) were newly elected, but also the district administrators, mayors or mayors. In many cases a runoff election will be required, which is scheduled to take place on September 27th.

Especially when it comes to personal elections, the results differ significantly from state or federal trends. Although the AfD ran with more candidates than ever before, it only managed to get a candidate into the runoff in Salzgitter.

However, there is still a risk of election challenges in three cases because the AfD candidates Martin Security (Friesland district), Stephan Bothe (Lüneburg district) and Thorsten Moriße (City of Wilhelmshaven) were not allowed to run due to doubts about their loyalty to the constitution. The preliminary review by the electoral committees, which in Lower Saxony can now also rely on findings from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, is controversial.

On the other side of the political spectrum, the Greens had reason to celebrate in some places: especially in Hanover and Göttingen. In Hanover, the confrontation between Mayor Belit Onay (Greens) and his deputy Axel von der Ohe (SPD) was eagerly awaited. Belit Onay prevailed with a clear lead and a total of 45.6 percent, second place von der Ohe got 21.5 percent. CDU candidate Peter Karst got 14.1 percent, ahead of AfD candidate Jessica Schülke with 10.8 percent.

In Göttingen, the Green Party's Onyeka Oshionwu had reason to be happy: she made it into the runoff with 41.4 percent, ahead of her competitor Ehsan Kangarani from the CDU with 27.9 percent. But this is also thanks to the fact that incumbent Petra Broistedt from the SPD did not run again.