Independent candidates celebrate victories: The mayoral elections in Brandenburg!

Independent candidates celebrate victories: The mayoral elections in Brandenburg!

Yesterday, election Sunday, September 29, 2025, an exciting election for mayor was held in 18 municipalities in Brandenburg. The results clearly show a trend in favor of independent candidates, while the AfD was unable to win, like the Märkische Allgemeine reported.

Overall, voters went to the polls in a municipal super election. Of the 18 elections, a winner can already be announced in twelve municipalities, while runoff elections are necessary in five cases because no candidate was able to achieve an absolute majority. These will take place on October 12th and 19th, as also from rbb24 noted. The affected communities include Oranienburg, Bad Freienwalde and Eisenhüttenstadt.

Successes of the independents

The upward trend of independent candidates is particularly notable. They were able to win from a standing start in nine of 18 election games. Michael Wiebersinsky, non-party and from “We for Nauen”, leads the way with 52.6 percent in Nauen, followed by new mayors in Teltow (Andre Freymuth, CDU) and Vetschau (Chris Mielchen, non-party). The incumbent mayor of Rheinsberg, Frank-Rudi Schwochow, was re-elected with an impressive majority of 65.2 percent.

Numerous mayors remain in office, including Anja Heinrich in Elsterwerda and Karolin Lisiecki in Friedland. It is clear that the mayoral elections in Brandenburg are strongly people-oriented and are less determined by party political considerations.

The AfD – a damper

The AfD, which often appears as a potential winner, was unsuccessful in these elections. Their candidates couldn't win a single mayoral position, which included the Reporting by Lomazoma confirmed. In Teltow and other cities, the AfD fell short of its expectations and is often only in the runoff elections, as the election results so far show. The party has to deal with the established candidates who have received positive feedback from voters.

The upcoming runoff elections will be exciting: In Eisenhüttenstadt, the AfD candidate Maik Diepold could make another attempt to move into the mayor's office with 37.8 percent of the vote on October 12th. The CDU and SPD are concerned about the AfD's chances in this and other municipalities.

Voter turnout varied between 46.9 and 75.2 percent, highlighting citizens' interest in local issues. These elections make it clear that in Brandenburg individual candidates are often elected beyond party affiliation. This could lead to a dynamic political landscape that leaves room for new approaches.

The coming hours and days will significantly influence the political direction in the individual cities. Stay tuned to see who will come out on top in the runoff!