Tension in the Lippe district: Who will win the decisive runoff election?

Tension in the Lippe district: Who will win the decisive runoff election?

The local elections took place in the Lippe district on Sunday, September 15, 2025. This was a particularly exciting election because for the first time in years no new district administrator was elected. The incumbent district administrator Axel Lehmann, who wanted to stand for election for the SPD, no longer ran due to a serious cancer diagnosis. This led to an open race between the CDU and SPD candidates.

The results of the district election show a close result: The CDU under its candidate Meinolf Haase secured 39.9 percent of the votes, while the SPD with its candidate Ilka Kottmann got 29.1 percent. There will now be a runoff election in two weeks, which will create additional tension. Loud Northwest Newspaper Many expect the district council to fragment, which Lehmann feared if too many parties took part.

Mayoral and council elections

The mayoral elections took place in a total of ten cities and six municipalities. There was particularly great interest in Bad Salzuflen and Detmold, where people with a migration background elected the Integration Council. Here, too, the elections were not without surprises: In Extertal, the FDP mayoral candidate made it into the runoff election against an applicant from the “Zukunft Extertal” voter group. The polling stations were open to voters from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Inga Loke, the Green Party candidate, admitted that her party was unable to get the same number of votes as in the previous local elections, resulting in losses. The preliminary final results for the district council had not yet been submitted on election evening. It remains to be seen how the coalitions in the new district council will be composed.

Political trends and outlook

The results across the country show that the CDU dominates the local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia with 33.3 percent. This is a slight decrease compared to 2020, while the SPD fell to 22.1 percent. The AfD, on the other hand, was able to improve significantly and reached 14.5 percent. A surprise was the decline of the Greens, who only received 13.5 percent. Overall, it can be said that voter turnout was 56.8 percent, which is pleasingly higher than in 2020.

Runoff elections in many large cities, such as Cologne, are also just around the corner. There will be an exciting duel between Berivan Aymaz (Greens) and Torsten Burmester (SPD). Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) and the SPD state party leader Sarah Philipp have already announced support for their respective candidates.

The political landscape in the Lippe district and throughout North Rhine-Westphalia remains in flux. The upcoming runoff elections could bring about some decisive changes and provide a breath of fresh air in everyday political life. What happens next remains to be seen.