Mayor election in Cologne 2015

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Henriette Reker was elected Lord Mayor of Cologne in 2015

The mayoral election in Cologne took place on October 18, 2015, separate from the 2015 municipal elections in North Rhine-Westphalia , which took place on September 13, 2015. In the election itself, the non-party candidate Henriette Reker prevailed over her strongest competitor Jochen Ott (SPD). The election and the victory celebrations were overshadowed by an assassination attempt on the winner that took place just a day before. Reker was still in an artificial coma at the time her victory was announced , but according to the attending doctors, his life was out of danger.

prehistory

Candidates

Jochen Ott was next to Reker the most promising candidate

A total of seven candidates were available for election. The outgoing Lord Mayor Jürgen Roters (SPD) did not run again. The candidates in detail were:

Postponement of choice

Originally announced for September 13, 2015 as part of the local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, the election had to be postponed because the state objected to the ballot papers on which the parties were written in too large a font, but the names of the candidates were much too small in comparison were specified. Election supervisor Agnes Klein (SPD) was politically responsible and at the same time declared her resignation.

The new election dates were announced on September 4, 2015. The election was therefore postponed to October 18. A runoff would have taken place on November 8th. Around 55,000 ballot papers that had already been submitted by postal vote had to be declared invalid.

Jochen Ott and Henriette Reker were quickly identified as favorites. The latter took part without a party, but with the support of the so-called WahlInitiative Reker (WIR). This was a so-called " rainbow coalition " made up of the CDU, FDP and the Greens.

attack

On the morning of October 17, 2015, one day before the mayor's election, Henriette Reker and four other people were attacked by a 44-year-old man with a knife at a CDU information desk in Cologne-Braunsfeld . Reker and one of the other people were seriously injured. The perpetrator is said to have been a former member of the banned militant neo-Nazi Freedom German Workers' Party (FAP) who acted out of xenophobic motives. Reker was admitted to Cologne University Hospital, where she received emergency treatment. Jochen Ott stopped his election campaign out of solidarity. The election itself could not be postponed, as this is only possible in the event of the death of a candidate under the Local Election Act .

Election results

Election evening in the piazzetta of the historical town hall of Cologne

The turnout was 40.28 percent (325,868 votes cast) and thus 9 percentage points below the turnout in the previous election in 2009. Henriette Reker prevailed with a clear margin against Jochen Ott. The absolute majority with 52.66 percent of the vote made a runoff unnecessary. Henriette Reker was thus elected the first female mayor of Cologne.

Surname Political party Percent (%)
Henriette Reker independent 52.66
Jochen Ott SPD 32.02
Mark Benecke The party 7.22
Hendrik Rottmann AfD 4.01
Marcel Hövelmann independent 2.82
Sabine Neumeyer independent 0.78
Kevin Krieger REP 0.49

Acceptance of choice

Elfi Scho-Antwerpes and Guido Kahlen acted as representatives for Henriette Reker until she took office

Henriette Reker was still in an artificial coma at the time of the election and when the result was announced, whereby the waking up process had already been initiated. On October 20, Reker was available and could be informed about the outcome of the election. On October 22, 2015 at 12:10 p.m., she signed the declaration of acceptance and formally accepted her office. She was represented by City Director Guido Kahlen for administrative management and by Mayor Elfi Scho-Antwerpes and the other Mayors of Cologne for all council and representative tasks .

Web links

Commons : Mayor election in Cologne 2015  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Christian Wolf: New date after ballot slip: Cologne OB election now on October 18th. WDR Studio Cologne , September 4, 2015, archived from the original on September 7, 2015 ; accessed on August 7, 2017 .
  2. ↑ I'm not ducking away. In: Kölnische Rundschau , January 10, 2015, p. 38.
    Now it's up to the members. In: Kölnische Rundschau , January 10, 2015, p. 38.
    The FDP also wants to support Reker. In: Kölnische Rundschau , January 10, 2015, p. 38.
    Hildegard Stausberg: Henriette Reker: The woman who suffers from her city . In: welt.de , October 17, 2015, accessed on August 7, 2017.
    Reiner Burger: Das Großstadttrauma der CDU. FAZ.net , February 1, 2015, accessed March 30, 2015.
  3. ↑ Henriette Reker: Investigators see xenophobic motives for knife attacks. In: Zeit Online . October 17, 2015, accessed October 28, 2015 . Jörg Diehl: Assassination attempt on Cologne's OB candidate: Knife stabber has a right-wing extremist past. In: Spiegel Online . October 17, 2015, accessed October 28, 2015 .
  4. ↑ Cologne: OB candidate seriously injured in knife attack. In: Zeit Online . October 17, 2015, accessed October 28, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Official final result. City of Cologne, accessed on October 28, 2015 .
  6. ↑ Knife attack before the election: Cologne politician Reker can be contacted again. Spiegel Online , October 20, 2015, accessed October 28, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Inge Schürmann: Lord Mayor Henriette Reker has accepted office. City of Cologne, October 22, 2015, accessed on October 28, 2015 .