Runoff election in Dortmund: Westphal and Kalouti are fighting for the town hall!

Runoff election in Dortmund: Westphal and Kalouti are fighting for the town hall!

The 2025 local elections took place in Dortmund on September 14th, and the first results are now available. The election committee examined the results of the mayoral election on September 16th and announced the candidates for the upcoming runoff election on September 28th. Thomas Westphal from the SPD and Alexander Omar Kalouti from the CDU are competing against each other. How Dortmund.de reported, 441,696 Dortmund residents have received the election notification or are registered in the voters' register.

A look at the voter numbers shows that voter turnout at 5 p.m. was 50.24% - a small increase compared to 46.32% in 2020. Those involved do not need to worry about election help, as most of the election helpers remain in their teams. Questions about the runoff election can be directed to the local election office.

Results and trends

At first glance, the results for the candidates are rather mixed. Thomas Westphal from the SPD fell in the mayoral election from 35.9% in 2020 to 27.5% this year. The SPD also suffered losses in the council, where it fell from 30.0% to 24.9%. The CDU, on the other hand, shows stability in the council with around 22%, but suffered a decline from 25.9% to 17.1% in the mayoral election.

Particularly noteworthy is the sharp decline of the Greens, who fell from 21.9% to just 14.0% in the mayoral election, while in the council they fell from 24.8% to 16.5%. The AfD, on the other hand, has made significant gains and now has 16.5% in the council and 14.6% in the mayoral election. The Left also saw a slight improvement from 5.62% to 8%.

The independent Martin Cremer delivered a surprise result, receiving around 14.5% in the mayoral election and thus achieving the fourth best result. These numbers show an interesting mix of political change in Dortmund.

More about election statistics

Anyone interested in the numbers and statistics surrounding the election should take a look at the election statistics platform. This provides comprehensive information about the elections in Germany, including the total number of eligible voters and the electorate, the distribution of votes and the demographic characteristics when voting. On the side Statistics portal Those interested can find lots of details about the elections at the state and local level.

All in all, Dortmund is facing an exciting runoff election in which Westphal and Kalouti will fight for the office of mayor on September 28th. The returning officer also thanks everyone involved for their commitment and calls on citizens to take part in democratic decision-making.