Local elections in NRW: These three things teach the vote

Some are relieved because the AfD in North Rhine-Westphalia did not get that bad on Sunday. The others refer to the enormous voice growth of right -wing extremists compared to the local elections five years ago.

The struggle for interpretation of the first major mood test since the Bundestag election is in full swing.

The fact is: The right -wing extremist party was able to largely keep its good result of the federal election. The AfD lost easily. Compared to the municipal election from 2020, its voice share has tripled to 14.5 percent, but is significantly below the national average.

Local elections are now special coordination, very locally, often dependent on people. Findings for the entire republic can only be derived carefully. If you take a closer look at the results, you can still take a lot with you.

These three teachings can be drawn from the local elections:

He is one of the few winners of the SPD in North Rhine-Westphalia. Sören Link, Mayor of Duisburg, has to go to the runoff election with 46 percent. But his lead over the second -placed opposite candidate from the AfD is great. In view of the downward trend of his party, one could say that Sören Link (49) still wins elections, even though he is a social democrat. What does he do differently?

Link has been running Duisburg for 13 years. The former mining and steel city suffers from structural change. At the moment, thousands at Thyssen-Krupp again fear for their jobs. The fact that the Federal Government announced a steel summit shortly before the local election should not have been a coincidence: Bärbel Bas, the SPD chairman and Minister of Labor, grew up in the Walsum district of Duisburg. You know each other.

Link focuses on poverty migration from the EU countries Romania and Bulgaria in parts of his city, of which Marxloh is the best known nationwide. Link calls for a harder approach to rip-offs that attract workers to the Ruhr area, offer them at horrendous prices, and then compensate them and then tap their citizens’ or child benefit. Around 26,000 Romanians and Bulgarians now live in the 500,000-inhabitant city of Duisburg, and the trend is rising.

Link not only complains, he takes action, lets residential buildings clear and tear down. For him, the SPD is the party of work, so one has to act against social fraudsters. Because he does not appear to be squeamish rhetorically, he always comes up with criticism, even from his own party. And that the AfD in Duisburg still reaches around 20 percent cannot like Link. It is the old dilemma that the political opponent may be upgraded when you take over your topics.

But Link should see the result as a confirmation, as well as party leader Lars Klingbeil: He has long wanted less social romance in his comrades.

But the success of Link is not the rule: 407 votes in the AfD in Gelsenkirchen are missing 1. With 29.9 percent, she won the most voices in the Ruhrpott metropolis. In other major cities in the Ruhr area, the right -wing extremists also achieved strong results: in Herne, Bottrop, Duisburg or Oberhausen, more than 20 percent of the voters vote for the AfD.

In Gelsenkirchen, Duisburg and Hagen, the party also makes it into the runoff election. These are election results that have been known from East German cities so far.

The SPD remains the strongest strength in many of the municipalities, but it is clearly lost in approval. In Herne, Dortmund and Gelsenkirchen, the party drops around five percentage points each. The AfD cuts particularly strongly in SPD strongholds, even if it can increase its results throughout the state.

What is behind it? The example of SPD-Mann Link in Duisburg can also be used: the poverty migration, which he addresses so strongly, exacerbates the already tense social situation, especially in the Ruhr cities. Very poor people hike there in the anyway poor cities. Unemployment is high, which makes integration difficult.

At the same time, the cities are affected by emigration: Gelsenkirchen has lost more than 100,000 inhabitants since the 1960s. The proportion of foreigners also increased massively. This exacerbates another problem: the municipalities have hardly any money left, groan under their debts.

And the SPD has ruled for a particularly long time everywhere – and is held responsible by many people. The CDU can hardly benefit from it. All of this is apparently particularly useful in the former red core country.

In the election campaign, an interview by the Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia circulated on social media. Hendrik Wüst is asked by a citizen whether he agrees with the performance of Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz: Wüst answers with a long -drawn “Joaar”. It sounds ironic.

The scene is typical of the grown self-confidence of the NRW Prime Minister, who is considered number 2 in the CDU. The election result is likely to reinforce him in it. Although the CDU also lost one percentage point in North Rhine-Westphalia compared to the election five years ago, but the election was nevertheless won by far. And most importantly: the Christian Democrats were very well above the national trend of the party.

In addition to Wüst, this should strengthen all those in the party who want less disputes in the government, less actionism and promise. More calm governance, more practical results. Wüst has been moving through the republic with this message for months: less riot, more coalition work.

The citizen from the video also asked the Prime Minister whether he believed that he can do the Chancellor job better than Friedrich Merz. Wüst answers with a smugly, long -drawn “Neein”.