Runoff election in Thuringia brings change of power

In the local elections in Thuringia, the AfD was unable to win any of the open district administrator or mayoral posts. In the Altenburger Land district, candidate Heiko Philipp achieved the best result for the AfD with 45.9 percent of the vote. The respective candidates from the CDU, SPD and Free Voters, as well as in one case an independent incumbent, prevailed in the elections.

In the cities of Erfurt and Gera, mayors Andreas Bausewein and Julian Vonarb had to make way for their challengers Andreas Horn and Kurt Dannenberg. In the runoff election for district administrator in Hildburghausen, Tommy Frenck, who is described by the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a “nationally known right-wing extremist”, was clearly defeated. However, he was able to win 30 percent of the vote. In some regions, incumbents were no longer allowed to run for office due to age.

In central Thuringia, the change of power in Erfurt is likely to attract the greatest attention: Andreas Horn (CDU) will replace Andreas Bausewein (SPD) as mayor of the state capital. There is also a new mayor in Apolda: In the election for the mayor’s office, the CDU-supported individual candidate Olaf Müller clearly won against his challenger Simon Ehrenreich (AfD). Current mayor Rüdiger Eisenbrand did not run again due to age. Christiane Schmidt-Rose remains district administrator in Weimarer Land. The CDU politician won against challenger Dirk Geyer (citizens’ initiatives). The new district administrator in the Sömmerda district is Christian Karl from the CDU, who prevailed against challenger Stefan Schröder from the AfD.

The long-standing incumbent Petra Enders (independent) remains district administrator in the Ilm district. She relegated her opponent Ralf Gohritz, who had been nominated by the AfD, to second place in the runoff election on Sunday. In the Hildburghausen district, Sven Gregor from the Free Voters won the runoff election with a clear lead over the neo-Nazi Tommy Frenck.

In East Thuringia, the CDU is gaining ground in many places. Gera’s new mayor is Kurt Dannenberg, who succeeds his previous boss, the non-party member Julian Vonarb. In the three East Thuringian districts, the CDU/CSU’s district administrator candidates are in some cases clearly ahead of those of the AfD: in Altenburger Land, Uwe Melzer is serving a second term, in Saale-Holzland district, Johann Waschnewski is taking over, and in Greiz district, Ulli Schäfer is the new district administrator. The only FDP mayor in Thuringia, Thomas Nitzsche, was able to convince voters in Jena again.

In the runoff elections in the two districts in western Thuringia, the candidates of the CDU and SPD prevailed. In the district of Gotha, District Administrator Onno Eckert of the SPD was re-elected as District Administrator, with a clear lead over the AfD candidate Stephan Steinbrück. In the city of Gotha, Mayor Knut Kreuch (SPD) defended his office against the independent Robert Luhn, who ran for the CDU. In the Wartburg district, the Christian Democrats celebrated two runoff election victories: Bad Liebenstein Mayor Michael Brodführer will be the new District Administrator. Christoph Ihling will be the new mayor in Eisenach. In Waltershausen, 26-year-old Leon Graupner won the runoff election for the office of Mayor against Sven Wiesenthal (CDU).

In northern Thuringia, the CDU defended its stronghold in the predominantly Catholic Eichsfeld. Its candidate for the district administrator’s office, Marion Frant, received 70.2 percent of the votes. Her competitor, the independent Marcel König, nominated by the AfD, received 29.8 percent. In Eichsfeld, the issue was the successor to the longest-serving German district administrator, Werner Henning. The long-standing SPD district administrator Antje Hochwind-Schneider continues to head the district administrator’s office in the Kyffhäuser district. In the Unstrut-Hainich district, district administrator Harald Zanker of the SPD has to go. He was head of the district administration for 30 years. The new district administrator there is Thomas Ahke from the Free Voters.

The European elections also took place parallel to the local elections. After all 3,044 electoral districts have been counted, the AfD is clearly ahead in Thuringia with 30.7 percent of the votes counted. Following behind are the CDU with 23.2 percent, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) with 15.0 percent, the SPD with 8.2 percent, and the Left with 5.7 percent.

Also in the single digits are the Greens (4.2 percent), FDP (2.0 percent), Die Partei (2.0 percent), Free Voters (1.8 percent), Volt (1.3 percent), Family (1.0 percent) and Animal Protection Party (1.0).

In Thuringia, the CDU and AfD interpret their parties’ performance in the European elections as a signal for the state elections coming up in the fall. “The European elections have shown that the people of Thuringia and Germany are ready for a change,” wrote Thuringia’s CDU leader Mario Voigt on the portal X. The CDU is the only party that offers a responsible alternative “to the failed politics of the left and the dangerous extremism of the right-wing extremists.” Thuringia’s AfD co-chairman Stefan Möller also wrote on X that his party has been “under constant fire for months.” Second place is a strong European election result. “This is a good starting point for the state elections in September.”

Nationwide, the CDU and CSU received the most votes in the European elections, followed by the AfD. You can find further results here.

On Sunday, around 1.3 million Thuringians were called to vote again for the local elections – in places where candidates had failed to secure an absolute majority in the first round two weeks ago.

Voter turnout was 61.9 percent, slightly higher than five years ago. For the first time, 16- and 17-year-olds were also able to vote.

You can find out more about the results of the local elections in the individual regions in the respective article from the list:

In the local elections for district administrators and mayors almost two weeks ago, only in Suhl, Weimar and Schmalkalden-Meiningen did candidates manage to win more than half of the votes straight away.

In twelve districts and three independent cities, the two candidates with the most votes therefore had to go into a runoff election.

There were also run-off elections in the mayoral elections in some places – including Gotha, Eisenach and Sömmerda. In total, around 154,000 eligible voters were able to cast their votes here.

Most of the duels at district level were between CDU and AfD candidates, who faced each other in six districts. In the first round of voting, the CDU candidates were clearly ahead in five districts, only in Altenburger Land did the AfD candidate Heiko Philipp, with 33 percent, do slightly better than the incumbent Uwe Melzer (CDU), who received 32.3 percent.

There were duels between AfD and SPD candidates in the Kyffhäuser district and in the Gotha district. In the Ilm district, the independent incumbent Petra Enders had to go into the runoff election against an AfD candidate, but was ahead in the first round. So far, there is an AfD district administrator in the southern Thuringian district of Sonneberg, Robert Sesselmann, who was the first in the country.

The performance of a neo-Nazi in the district election in Hildburghausen caused a stir. The right-wing extremist Tommy Frenck made it to the runoff election, the outcome of which will now be watched with great interest. The extremist is not expected to have much chance of becoming the district administrator; his opponent Sven Gregor, who ran for the Free Voters in the southern Thuringian district, received 42.4 percent in the first round of voting.

One of the big surprises of the local elections in Erfurt was that the CDU challenger Andreas Horn overtook the long-standing incumbent and SPD politician Andreas Bausewein: Horn received 28.4 percent in the first round of voting, Bausewein 22.7 percent. After 18 years at the helm of the state capital, Bausewein must now resign from office.

Erfurt was long considered a stronghold of the SPD, and Bausewein was also SPD party chairman in Thuringia for several years. In recent months, he has come under criticism, particularly for his handling of personnel disputes and misconduct at the Erfurt Theater. According to media reports, Bausewein had considered switching to the Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) alliance, but then turned it down. He ran for the SPD again in the mayoral election.