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2026 Berlin state election

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2026 Berlin state election
← 2023
20 September 2026
2031 →
All 153 seats in the House of Representatives, including 23 overhang and leveling seats
77 seats needed for a majority
Turnout1,846,170 (74.2%)
Increase 11.3 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Candidate Elif Eralp Stefan Evers Kristin Brinker
Party Linke CDU AfD
Last election 22 seats, 12.2% 52 seats, 28.2% 17 seats, 9.1%
Seats won 45 33 29
Seat change Increase 23 Decrease 19 Increase 12
Popular vote 468,060 342,516 296,601
Percentage 25.7% 18.8% 16.3%
Swing Increase 13.4pp Decrease 9.5pp Increase 7.2pp
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Candidate Bettina Jarasch &
Werner Graf		 Steffen Krach
Party Greens SPD
Last election 34 seats, 18.4% 34 seats, 18.4%
Seats won 25 21
Seat change Decrease 9 Decrease 13
Popular vote 260,700 220,939
Percentage 14.3% 12.1%
Swing Decrease 4.1pp Decrease 6.3pp
Results for single-member constituencies and party list.
Government before election

Wegner senate
CDU–SPD

 Elected Government

TBD

The 2026 Berlin state election was held on 20 September 2026 to elect the 20th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin. The 2026 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election took place on the same day, two weeks after the 2026 Saxony-Anhalt state election.

Due to numerous irregularities in the 2021 Berlin state election, it was ruled invalid and repeated in 2023 in which members were elected only for the remainder of the term. Kai Wegner has served as Governing Mayor of Berlin since April 2023, leading the CDU-SPD Wegner senate, but has received criticism and was not seeking re-election as mayor.

The parties of the outgoing government—the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD)—as well as the Greens, lost about a third of their support. Meanwhile, The Left and the Alternative for Germany (AfD) doubled their share, and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) failed to secure any seats.

The Left became the largest party in a state for the second time, after the 2019 Thuringian state election. Since the AfD is subject to the German firewall policy, and the CDU also rejects The Left, three other parties need to cooperate to form a coalition. Both the SPD and the Greens have signalled a willingness to join a coalition with The Left. This was the first time since 1990 Berlin state election that the SPD or CDU did not finish first.

Election date

[edit]

The Berlin parliament did not decide to dissolve itself. The date of the election for the 20th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin was set to 20 September 2026. The Berlin Constitution stipulates that a regular election must occur no earlier than 56 months and no later than 59 months after the start of the Abgeordnetenhaus's legislative period.[1] The 19th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin was constituted on November 4, 2021.[2][3]

Electoral system

[edit]

The Abgeordnetenhaus is elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 78 members are elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting. 52 members are then allocated using compensatory proportional representation, distributed based on each party's statewide voteshare. Parties can submit either a single statewide list, or one in each of Berlin's twelve boroughs. Voters have two votes: the "first vote" for candidates in single-member constituencies, and the "second vote" for party lists, which are used to fill the proportional seats. The statutory size of the Abgeordnetenhaus is 130 members, but if overhang seats are present, proportional leveling seats will be added to ensure proportionality. An electoral threshold of 5% of valid votes is applied to the Abgeordnetenhaus; parties that fall below this threshold are excluded from the Abgeordnetenhaus – except if they win at least one single-member constituency, in which case they are exempt from said threshold and will be eligible for seats.[4]

Background

[edit]
Results of Berlin state elections. Since turnout dropped under 70% in 1995, abstentions (Nichtwähler) have a much higher share than any party.

In the 2023 Berlin repeat state election with 28% of votes, the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) grew by over ten percentage points and emerged as the largest party by a wide margin, the first time it had done so since the 1999 Berlin state election. All three governing parties declined; the SPD suffered its worst result in over a century with 18.4%, and only barely remained ahead of the Greens by a margin of 53 votes. The Left also slipped to 12%. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) recorded a small upswing to 9%, while the Free Democratic Party (FDP) fell to 4.6% and lost all their seats. Overall, the incumbent government retained a reduced majority. The CDU claimed a mandate to govern given its first-place result, while mayor Franziska Giffey committed to remaining in government. The Left called for a renewal of the outgoing coalition.[5] After various talks between parties, the SPD and CDU voted at the beginning of March to begin negotiations for a grand coalition. CDU leader Kai Wegner was approved as mayor on 27 April after three rounds of voting.[6][7]

Campaign

[edit]

Wegner replacement

[edit]

Wegner received heavy criticism for his lack of presence and poor communicative response to the 3 January 2026 arson attack on the Berlin power grid, especially after it was revealed he spent part of the day playing tennis with his partner Katharina Günther-Wünsch instead of handling the crisis. The scandal caused tension inside the coalition and opposition parties accused him of lying about his whereabouts that day. Der Tagesspiegel reported on 7 July, citing the Senate Chancellery, that Wegner had not made any official phone calls related to the blackout until 12:45 p.m., nearly seven hours after the attack; this contradicted his previous public statement that he first began coordinating a response around 8 a.m. After this, internal anger from his party intensified, and on 10 July Wegner stepped down as the CDU's lead candidate for this election. He refused to resign from office and remained the CDU's constituency candidate in his district of Spandau 5. However, he ruled out serving in the next Senate if the CDU end up in government.[8] On the evening of 10 July, Finance Senator Stefan Evers was named as Wegner's replacement.[9]

Police investigation into Krach

[edit]

On 9 September, the Hanover public prosecutor's office executed three search warrants against properties related to SPD lead candidate Steffen Krach; police searched his apartment in Berlin, as well as SPD offices in Berlin and the Hanover Region government offices. Though the office declined to comment on an ongoing investigation, reporting from Der Tagesspiegel indicated it was on suspicion of bribery.[10]

Krach told Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg in an interview that evening that he suspected this was the basis of the investigation. Krach, in his capacity of President of the Hanover Region from 2021 through the beginning of 2026, was chair of the supervisory board of its municipal hospitals and oversaw the sale of one of them to a private medical provider. He claimed that one of the two bidders – which he said was the one which lost – made a donation of €9,900 to the Berlin SPD during the process, just under the €10,000 threshold which requires the party to disclose the donor's identity. At this time (December 2025), Krach had been nominated as the Berlin lead candidate but had not yet left his Hanover post. Krach called the implication of accepting a bribe "completely baseless", said he immediately recognized the donation as unacceptable and returned it within 24 hours, and denied ever taking improper donations in a personal or professional capacity.[11] As donations are normally handled only by party financial staff, he said he had specially instructed them to alert him to any coming from Hanover to avoid the appearance of impropriety, and later abstained from the board's decisive vote. The prosecutor's office had searched the provider's offices in May 2026 in a relation to an unspecified "corruption offense", and Krach said awareness of a previous investigation into the provider ultimately swayed the board's decision.[10][11]

The Berlin state executive of the SPD held a crisis meeting on the afternoon of 9 September and pronounced their full confidence in Krach as lead candidate.[10] Reporting from RBB later brought Krach's timeline into question: it obtained copies of the relevant receipts and communications which showed the donation was made on 29 December 2025 and returned on 9 January 2026. Krach was only told about the donation on 7 January. However, the Berlin party treasurer backed up his claim that he instructed the donation be returned immediately.[11][12] Krach stated his intention to continue campaigning in a press conference on 10 September, and confirmed he had support from the SPD parliamentary group, state executive, and federal leader and Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil.[12]

In the evening of 10 September, the Hanover public prosecutor's office spokeswoman confirmed to Der Spiegel that there were three active investigations into Krach: two for Vorteilsannahme – "acceptance of benefits", accepting a bribe but without a violation of duty to the public, which is the more severe Bestechlichkeit (corruption) – and one for entering into possible anti-competitive agreements in conjunction with the misappropriation of trade secrets. The spokeswoman said the investigations had started on 3 September and the search warrants had been issued on 7 September.[13] In light of this, Der Tagesspiegel reported that the municipal supervisory authority of Lower Saxony – Krach is still technically in office as president of the Hanover region on unpaid leave – was evaluating opening disciplinary proceedings against him.[14]

Polls and potential coalitions

[edit]

In the two months before the election, the CDU, AfD, and The Left were all shown as the largest party in at least one poll. Recent election winners were also quite different: SPD had won the invalid 2021 Berlin state election, CDU the repeat 2023 Berlin state election, the Greens the local 2024 European Parliament elections, and The Left prevailed in the local 2025 German federal election.

Polls in August suggested that five parties are in the 15% to 20% range, making a continuation of the CDU–SPD grand coalition or any other two-party coalition mathematically impossible. They predict a CDU–SPD–Green Kenya coalition could have a majority, but Green lead candidate Werner Graf has ruled out working with the CDU.[15] A Left–Green–SPD coalition is thus the most likely coalition to command a majority. The same coalition, but led by the SPD (red–red–green coalition), governed Berlin from 2016 through 2023.[16] The AfD is subject to a firewall policy as all other major parties refuse to work with it, and no other parties are predicted to pass the five-percent election threshold. The federal CDU has also passed a "resolution of incompatibility" prohibiting it or any lower-level party organ from working with The Left.

Left lead candidate Elif Eralp has publicly stated a red line condition of entering any coalition is beginning the nationalisation (with reducing compensation) of housing properties owned by large companies, which voters approved by a large margin in the non-binding 2021 Deutsche Wohnen & Co. enteignen referendum. (Article 15 of the Basic Law empowers the government to pass a law allowing it to take over land, natural resources, and means of production for the purposes of socialization with equitable compensation to the owner, though it has never been used before.[17]) Krach responded that he would not agree to this condition and accused The Left of "drawing a red line here because they do not even want to govern and instead continue as maximum opposition". For his part, Graf said his party felt bound by the referendum and called on the two red parties to settle their differences and "draw green lines" instead.[18]

Parties

[edit]

The table below lists parties represented in the 19th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin since 2023.

Name Ideology Lead candidate(s) 2023 result Current
Votes Seats
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands		 Christian democracy Stefan Evers 28.2%
52 / 147
52 / 147
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands		 Social democracy Steffen Krach 18.4%
34 / 147
36 / 147
Grüne Alliance 90/The Greens
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen		 Green politics Werner Graf 18.4%
34 / 147
33 / 147
Linke The Left
Die Linke		 Democratic socialism Elif Eralp 12.2%
22 / 147
20 / 147
AfD Alternative for Germany
Alternative für Deutschland		 Right-wing populism Kristin Brinker 9.1%
17 / 147
16 / 147
BSW Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance
Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht		 Left-conservatism Alexander King
Michael Lüders		 Did not exist
1 / 147

BSW is represented as Alexander King has defected from The Left. All parties represented in the Abgeordnetenhaus are automatically approved to submit a list of candidates without needing to also submit supporting signatures while minor parties must accompany their lists with 2,200 signatures. All approved parties may decide to submit one statewide list or a borough list in one or more of Berlin's 12 boroughs. Of the established parties, the CDU, Left, and SPD filed borough lists in all boroughs, while the AfD, BSW and Greens filed one statewide list.[19]

The following minor parties were approved to run in the election:[19]

The following minor parties submitted a state list and were not approved because they did not meet the signature requirement:[19]

Opinion polls

[edit]
Local regression of polls conducted.
Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size		 CDU SPD Grüne Linke AfD FDP BSW Others Lead
2026 state election 20 Sep 2026 – 18.8 12.1 14.3 25.7 16.3 2.2 4.2 6.4 6.9
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 20 Sep 2026 – 20 12 15.5 26 13.5 – 5 8 6
Infratest dimap 20 Sep 2026 – 20 12 15 24.5 16 – 5 7.5 4.5
Geostrategy 14–18 Sep 2026 1,000 19 12 14 21 20 3 5 6 1
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 14–17 Sep 2026 1,611 20 12 15 22 18 – 4 9 2
Civey 3–17 Sep 2026 3,000 20 12 16 21 18 2.5 4 6.5 1
INSA 10–16 Sep 2026 1,000 20 12 15 21 18 – 5 9 1
INSA 7–14 Sep 2026 1,000 20 12 16 20 18 3 5 6 Tie
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 7–10 Sep 2026 1,100 21 10 16 23 17 – 3 10 2
Civey 27 Aug – 10 Sep 2026 3,000 20 13 16 19 18 3 4 7 1
Infratest dimap 7–9 Sep 2026 1,527 20 12 16 21 18 – 4 9 1
INSA 26 Aug – 2 Sep 2026 1,000 20 15 15 19 18 3 3 7 1
Infratest dimap 27–31 Aug 2026 1,279 21 11 18 19 18 – 4 9 2
Unnamed pollster for BSW 21–26 Aug 2026 1,091 13.5 11.8 15.4 22.3 21.1 4.2 5.5 6.1 1.2
Civey 13–27 Aug 2026 3,000 19 13 15 20 18 4 4 7 1
Geostrategy 10–14 Aug 2026 1,000 19 14 15 20 19 3 4 6 1
Forsa 4–18 Aug 2026 1,535 18 12 16 22 18 3 4 7 4
INSA 7–13 Aug 2026 1,000 20 15 16 19 17 3 3 7 1
Civey 20 Jul – 3 Aug 2026 3,000 19 12 17 21 18 3 3 7 2
INSA [a] 14–21 Jul 2026 1,000 18 13 16 18 19 4 4 8 1
Infratest dimap 13–15 Jul 2026 1,147 20 12 17 22 16 3 3 7 2
Civey 25 Jun – 9 Jul 2026 3,000 19 13 17 19 17 4 3 8 Tie
Infratest dimap 25–29 Jun 2026 1,165 17 13 19 20 18 3 3 7 1
INSA [a] 4–8 May 2026 1,000 20 16 15 15 18 4 4 8 2
Infratest dimap 23–27 Apr 2026 1,155 19 14 18 18 18 3 3 7 1
INSA 7–14 Apr 2026 1,000 21 17 15 15 17 3 4 8 4
INSA 17–24 Feb 2026 1,000 22 16 15 15 17 4 4 7 5
Infratest dimap 12–14 Jan 2026 1,173 22 14 16 18 17 – 3 10 4
INSA [a] 7–14 Jan 2026 1,000 22 17 14 17 16 3 4 7 5
Infratest dimap 13–17 Nov 2025 1,185 22 13 16 19 16 – 4 10 3
INSA [a] 21–28 Oct 2025 1,100 23 16 14 17 15 4 5 6 6
Infratest dimap 12–16 Jun 2025 1,148 25 14 15 19 13 – 4 10 6
INSA 13–20 May 2025 1,000 24 17 15 13 13 3 7 8 7
Federal election 23 Feb 2025 – 18.3 15.1 16.8 19.9 15.2 3.8 6.6 4.2 1.6
Infratest dimap 14–18 Nov 2024 1,179 27 12 20 6 15 4 7 9 7
INSA 1–7 Jul 2024 1,000 26 18 15 7 12 4 12 6 8
European Parliament election 9 Jun 2024 – 17.6 13.2 19.6 7.3 11.6 4.3 8.7 17.7 2.0
Infratest dimap 18–22 Apr 2024 1,174 27 15 20 10 12 3 6 7 7
INSA 22–29 Jan 2024 1,000 29 16 17 10 13 4 – 11 12
Infratest dimap 12–16 Oct 2023 1,159 29 15 19 10 15 4 – 8 10
INSA 18–26 Sep 2023 1,000 26 17 18 10 14 5 – 10 8
Wahlkreisprognose 25 Jul – 2 Aug 2023 1,000 24.5 16 16.5 13.5 16 4 – 9.5 8
INSA 27 Mar – 3 Apr 2023 1,000 30 18 18 11 9 5 – 9 12
2023 state election 12 Feb 2023 N/A 28.2 18.4 18.4 12.2 9.1 4.6 – 9.0 9.8

Hypothetical direct election of mayor

[edit]
Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size		 Evers
CDU		 Krach
SPD		 Graf
Greens		 Eralp
Left		 Brinker
AfD		 None/
Undecided		 Lead
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 14–17 Sep 2026 1,611 24 – 12 25 – 39 14
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 7–10 Sep 2026 1,100 25 – 9 23 – 43 18
Infratest dimap 27–31 Aug 2026 1,279 13 9 4 13 7 54 41
Forsa 4–18 Aug 2026 1,535 15 10 6 16 10 43 27
Civey 22 Jul – 7 Aug 2026 1,500 20 14 9 11 15 31 11
Infratest dimap 25–29 Jun 2026 1,147 11 7 3 9 5 65 54

West Berlin

[edit]
Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size		 CDU SPD Grüne Linke AfD FDP Others Lead
2026 state election 20 Sep 2026 – 21.9 14.0 15.5 24.1 12.7 2.9 9.0[b] 2.2
Infratest dimap 7–9 Sep 2026 – 23 14 18 18 15 – 12[c] 5
Infratest dimap 26 Aug – 2 Sep 2026 – 24 13 19 16 15 – 13[d] 5
Infratest dimap 12–16 Oct 2023 – 31 17 20 8 13 4 7 11
2023 state election 12 Feb 2023 – 31.1 19.9 19.8 9.0 6.8 7.0 6.4 11.2

East Berlin

[edit]
Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size		 CDU Linke SPD Grüne AfD FDP Others Lead
2026 state election 20 Sep 2026 – 14.7 27.8 9.6 12.6 21.0 2.1 12.3[e] 6.8
Infratest dimap 7–9 Sep 2026 – 15 25 10 13 22 – 15[f] 3
Infratest dimap 26 Aug – 2 Sep 2026 – 17 22 8 16 22 – 15[f] Tie
Infratest dimap 12–16 Oct 2023 – 26 12 14 18 17 3 10 8
2023 state election 12 Feb 2023 – 24.3 16.6 16.4 16.4 12.2 3.7 10.4 7.7

Results

[edit]
Results for the list vote by party
Results of the party list vote by voting precinct

Voter turnout was 74.2%, nearly as high as in 2021 when the 2021 German federal election was held concurrently.

PartyConstituencyParty listTotal
seats		+/–
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
The Left (Linke)435,89824.0528468,06025.651947+25
Christian Democratic Union (CDU)367,30220.2727342,51618.77734–18
Alternative for Germany (AfD)289,37215.9712296,60116.261729+12
Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)297,06516.3910260,70014.291626–8
Social Democratic Party (SPD)248,50113.711220,93912.112122–12
Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW)75,7884.18086,0414.7200New
Free Democratic Party (FDP)40,3702.23046,3412.54000
Human Environment Animal Protection Party (Tierschutzpartei)10,2320.56038,6422.12000
Volt Germany (Volt)40,5982.24037,8802.08000
Die PARTEI4,7810.26013,5360.74000
Party of Progress (PdF)5,7600.3200New
Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP)2,5600.14000
German Communist Party (DKP)2520.0102,0700.11000
Die Urbane. Eine HipHop Partei (Die Urbane)1,5510.0900New
Socialist Equality Party (SGP)7160.04000
Die Heimat5210.0300New
Bergpartei, die ÜberPartei (B*)430.000800.00000
MERA253740.0200New
Mieterpartei2890.0200New
Democratic Left (DL)570.00000
Feminist Party of Germany570.0000New
Independents1,4920.08000
Total1,812,471100.00781,824,514100.0080158–1
Valid votes1,812,47198.171,824,51498.83
Invalid/blank votes33,6991.8321,6561.17
Total votes1,846,170100.001,846,170100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,487,31874.222,487,31874.22
Source: State Returning Officer
Popular vote
LINKE
 
 25.65%
CDU
 
 18.77%
AfD
 
 16.26%
GRÜNE
 
 14.29%
SPD
 
 12.11%
BSW
 
 4.72%
FDP
 
 2.54%
Other
 
 5.66%
Landtag seats
LINKE
 
 29.75%
CDU
 
 21.52%
AfD
 
 18.35%
GRÜNE
 
 16.46%
SPD
 
 13.92%

Results by constituency

[edit]
Source:[23]
No. ConstituencyTurnoutWinnerRunner-upMargin
%CandidatePartyVotes%CandidatePartyVotes%
1 Mitte 1 79.1 Silke Gebel Greens 7,220 28.4 Anna Eiling Left 6,409 25.2 811
2 2 74.3 Leonard Diederich Left 6,978 28.2 Lucas Schaal CDU 4,918 19.8 2,060
3 3 75.2 Jian Omar Greens 6,647 29.0 Tobias Schulze Left 5,615 24.5 1,032
4 4 72.8 Taylan Kurt Greens 7,737 36.6 Jacqueline Sanehy Left 6,550 31.0 1,187
5 5 66.9 Andreas Umgelter Left 6,631 36.4 Alexandra Bendzko Greens 2,745 15.1 3,886
6 6 64.3 Martha Kleedörfer Left 8,170 46.2 Tuba Bozkurt Greens 3,863 21.8 4,307
7 7 66.0 Deike Janssen Left 8,235 43.4 Tarek Massalme Greens 3,420 18.0 4,815
8 Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg 1 68.6 Elif Eralp Left 11,185 50.4 Kübra Beydaș Greens 3,817 17.2 7,368
9 2 80.1 Michael Efler Left 9,962 37.1 Katrin Schmidberger Greens 8,990 33.5 972
10 3 79.4 Kerstin Wolter-Ehling Left 11,511 42.2 Enad Altaweel Greens 7,665 28.1 3,846
11 4 76.2 Damiano Valgolio Left 10,474 39.1 Antje Kapek Greens 5,240 19.5 5,234
12 5 81.8 Ekkehard Spiegel Left 11,299 40.9 Vasili Franco Greens 7,630 27.6 3,669
13 Pankow 1 75.0 Johannes Kraft CDU 7,281 28.3 Christian Buchholz AfD 6,865 26.7 416
14 2 79.5 Lars Bocian CDU 6,605 25.0 Jan-Philip Streeck AfD 5,518 20.9 1,087
15 3 80.1 Christian Zebisch Left 7,232 26.0 Oda Hassepaß Greens 7,069 25.5 163
16 4 75.6 Herbert Mohr AfD 4,971 22.9 Devran Bașbolat Left 4,627 21.3 344
17 5 78.1 Enja Springob Left 6,806 28.1 Louis Krüger Greens 5,339 22.1 1,467
18 6 82.7 Maria Bigos Left 8,593 32.4 Sunčica Klaas Greens 8,096 30.6 497
19 7 79.0 Niklas Schrader Left 7,616 32.1 Can Aru Greens 6,159 25.9 1,457
20 8 82.5 Daniela Billig Greens 8,502 34.3 Gloria Viagra Left 6,626 26.7 1,876
21 9 78.3 Maximilian Schirmer Left 7,423 28.1 Tino Schopf SPD 6,668 25.3 755
22 Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf 1 69.8 Niklas Schenker Left 4,904 24.8 Nicola Aleksander Kaufmann SPD 4,009 20.3 895
23 2 77.5 Ariturel Hack CDU 7,859 33.1 Corinna Balkow Greens 4,484 18.9 3,375
24 3 78.9 Petra Vandrey Greens 6,243 25.7 Kian Niroomand SPD 4,766 19.6 1,477
25 4 75.2 Aldona Niemczyk CDU 5,894 24.5 Christoph Wapler Greens 5,803 24.1 91
26 5 75.6 Sandra Khalatbari CDU 8,123 35.5 Anna Melnik Greens 3,763 16.4 4,360
27 6 76.8 Jakob Zimmer Greens 7,100 29.6 Peer Mock-Stümer CDU 5,733 23.9 1,367
28 7 78.9 Felor Badenberg CDU 6,581 26.1 Isabel Blecher Greens 5,617 22.3 964
29 Spandau 1 65.8 Tommy Tabor AfD 5,184 Bettina Meißner CDU 5,150 34
30 2 64.1 Andreas Otti AfD 4,212 23.8 Ersin Nas CDU 3,789 21.4 423
31 3 65.6 Thomas Wulfes Left 4,569 21.3 Kerstin Brauner CDU 4,327 20.1 242
32 4 70.0 Heiko Melzer CDU 6,279 29.5 Robert Mickley AfD 4,915 23.1 1,364
33 5 76.2 Kai Wegner CDU 7,575 31.8 Susanne Drescher SPD 4,611 19.4 2,964
34 Steglitz-Zehlendorf 1 79.9 Tonka Wojahn Greens 6,219 24.6 Claudia Wein CDU 6,147 24.3 72
35 2 77.4 Tom Cywinski CDU 5,361 22.7 Daniel Eliasson Greens 4,848 20.6 513
36 3 81.8 Jens Hoffmann CDU 8,398 33.3 Rena Peterson Greens 5,275 20.9 3,123
37 4 77.4 Cornelia Seibeld CDU 7,782 32.7 Klara Ruhl Greens 4,126 17.3 3,656
38 5 74.3 Marco Hahnfeld CDU 6,264 28.5 Mirjam Golm SPD 3,692 16.8 2,572
39 6 83.0 Christoph Wegener CDU 8,840 33.7 Michael Gaedicke Greens 5,599 21.3 3,241
40 7 83.7 Stephan Standfuß CDU 9,459 38.2 Silke Lambeck Greens 5,150 20.8 4,309
41 Tempelhof-Schöneberg 1 76.7 Sebastian Walter Greens 7,275 27.4 Elisabeth Staudt Left 6,915 26.1 360
42 2 78.1 Martina Zander-Rade Greens 7,602 29.4 Asya Șenyüz Left 7,045 27.2 557
43 3 81.8 Christoph Störmer Greens 7,955 28.1 Orkan Özdemir SPD 7,405 26.2 550
44 4 75.3 Sarah Bremer Left 6,171 25.5 Aferdita Suka Greens 5,929 24.5 242
45 5 70.2 Roman Simon CDU 5,682 24.9 Christoph Böltes Left 4,492 19.7 1,190
46 6 72.5 Scott Körber CDU 7,061 31.8 Karsten Franck AfD 4,349 19.6 2,712
47 7 74.3 Christian Zander CDU 8,291 35.0 Karl-Heinz Turban AfD 4,620 19.5 3,671
48 Neukölln 1 73.8 Vanessa Emde Left 10,731 46.2 André Schulze Greens 6,026 25.9 4,705
49 2 71.1 Philipp-Martin Dehne Left 11,218 50.0 Bahar Haghanipour Greens 5,263 23.4 5,955
50 3 64.0 Rouzbeh Taheri Left 8,738 41.2 Christina Hilmer-Benedict Greens 3,162 14.9 5,576
51 4 64.5 Christopher Förster CDU 5,282 26.1 Marcel Hopp SPD 4,846 23.9 436
52 5 70.9 Robbin Juhnke CDU 6,473 28.2 Julian Potthast AfD 4,698 20.5 1,775
53 6 72.5 Olaf Schenk CDU 6,418 27.7 Franziska Giffey SPD 6,103 26.3 315
54 Treptow-Köpenick 1 76.2 Moritz Warnke Left 8,762 40.7 Catrin Wahlen Greens 3,260 15.1 5,502
55 2 74.5 Lisa Pfitzmann Left 7,203 35.6 Janine Paetzel AfD 4,197 20.7 3,006
56 3 75.5 Lars Düsterhöft SPD 5,746 26.0 Fabian Ulrich Left 5,480 24.8 266
57 4 75.0 Alexander Bertram AfD 7,570 31.5 Stefan Evers CDU 5,889 24.5 1,681
58 5 75.6 Denis Henkel AfD 5,721 24.9 Loic Kliemann Left 5,639 24.6 82
59 6 75.5 Martin Trefzer AfD 6,500 29.7 Eda Terkan Left 5,112 23.4 1,388
60 7 80.2 Hans Kromrey Left 6,736 26.7 Maik Penn CDU 6,215 24.6 521
61 Marzahn-Hellersdorf 1 61.8 Gunnar Lindemann AfD 8,585 45.1 Björn Tielebein Left 4,370 23.0 4,215
62 2 66.2 Anneliese Dummer AfD 7,663 35.7 Sarah Bigall Left 5,138 23.9 2,525
63 3 62.6 Jeannette Auricht AfD 9,060 43.4 Nadine Jüngling Left 4,797 23.0 4,263
64 4 75.0 Martin Koblischke AfD 6,750 26.4 Johannes Martin CDU 6,145 24.0 605
65 5 83.8 Katharina Günther-Wünsch CDU 8,890 31.6 Thomas Harder AfD 6,971 24.7 1,919
66 6 67.2 Jörn Geißler AfD 6,888 33.9 Alexander Herrmann CDU 5,804 28.5 1,084
67 Lichtenberg 1 68.2 Stephan Knaute AfD 7,536 33.6 Danny Freymark CDU 6,938 30.9 598
68 2 72.8 Martin Pätzold CDU 6,622 28.3 Marianne Kleinert AfD 6,260 26.8 362
69 3 67.9 Claudia Engelmann Left 7,304 32.9 Florian Beckert AfD 5,589 25.2 1,715
70 4 73.2 Antonio Leonhardt Left 9,212 38.4 Burkhard Knoll AfD 4,215 17.5 4,997
71 5 72.7 Hendrikje Klein Left 9,159 39.3 Matthias Ebert AfD 5,017 21.5 4,142
72 6 80.1 Julia Behrens Left 8,080 31.3 Lilia Usik CDU 4,793 18.6 3,287
73 Reinickendorf 1 62.5 Pilar Caballero Alvarez Left 4,630 27.0 Burkard Dregger CDU 3,508 20.5 1,122
74 2 66.3 Felix Schönebeck CDU 5,985 32.1 Christopher Marcel Wiedenhaupt AfD 3,864 20.7 2,121
75 3 79.7 Niklas Graßelt CDU 8,047 34.3 Samuel Märkt SPD 4,018 17.1 4,029
76 4 72.2 Tomasz Klon CDU 5,946 26.6 Rolf Wiedenhaupt AfD 4,356 19.5 1,590
77 5 61.1 Carsten Ubbelohde AfD 4,383 26.8 Matea Krolo CDU 3,913 23.9 470
78 6 84.4 Richard Gamp CDU 8,927 36.7 Klara Josephine Schedlich Greens 4,469 18.4 4,458

Electorate

[edit]

The electorate statistics, based on post-election surveys conducted by Infratest dimap, are as follows.[24][g]

Demographic CDU SPD Grüne Linke AfD FDP BSW Other
Total vote 18.8% 12.1% 14.3% 25.7% 16.3% 2.5% 4.7% 5.7%
Sex
Men 20% 11% 14% 23% 19% 3% 4% 6%
Women 17% 13% 15% 28% 14% 2% 5% 6%
Age
18–24 years old 8% 7% 11% 43% 12% 3% 6% 10%
25–34 years old 6% 6% 13% 49% 9% 3% 5% 9%
35–44 years old 11% 9% 18% 31% 15% 3% 4% 9%
45–59 years old 19% 11% 18% 20% 20% 3% 4% 5%
60–69 years old 24% 14% 13% 16% 23% 2% 5% 3%
70+ years old 33% 21% 10% 15% 12% 2% 5% 2%
Employment status
Workers 10% 6% 8% 26% 30% 5% 9% 6%
Employees 14% 11% 16% 29% 16% 3% 4% 7%
Pensioners 30% 19% 9% 16% 16% 2% 5% 3%
Self-employed 21% 11% 17% 26% 13% 4% 4% 4%
Education
Lower secondary education 22% 18% 5% 16% 26% 3% 4% 6%
Higher secondary education 20% 12% 7% 19% 28% 2% 6% 6%
University degree 18% 11% 19% 30% 10% 3% 4% 5%
Personal economic situation
Good 21% 13% 16% 24% 14% 3% 4% 5%
Bad 9% 9% 9% 32% 26% 2% 8% 5%

Aftermath

[edit]

Spandau 1 result error

[edit]

On 2 October, while verifying the result, electoral authorities announced there had been an error in the Spandau 1 constituency. Upon a recount the constituency seat went from the CDU's Bettina Meißner to AfD's Tommy Tabor. As it was no longer an overhang seat, this had the effect of removing four leveling seats – one each for SPD and Greens, and two for The Left. With Meißner also losing her seat because she was not elected from the CDU list, this reduced the overall size of the House of Representatives from 158 to 153. The state returning officer told Der Tagesspiegel that the result at one polling station was at issue, and it had been correctly counted on-site but was incorrectly reported by telephone on election night.[25][26]

Controversies surrounding The Left

[edit]

Neukölln party incident

[edit]

After the election, The Left faced criticism about the presence of controversial figures at a victory party. Ibrahim Ibrahim, an alleged representative of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a Palestinian organisation designated as a terrorist group by the European Union, the United States, and others; Issa Remmo, head of the Remmo clan (de) as well as members of the Barbakh clan were spotted at the election party of the Neukölln district branch.[27] Both the Remmo clan and the Barbakh clan are large families of Arab origin attributed to organised crime in Germany.[28] Ferat Koçak, the Left member of the Bundestag for Berlin-Neukölln, was pictured with Ibrahim Ibrahim at the party. Following the election, Issa Remmo's son, Firas Remmo, posted a screenshot of a chat exchange between himself and Koçak, which suggested a close relationship between the two. Koçak wrote, "Respectful greetings back to your father", and he also asked Remmo's son to share a video clip of his speeches in the Bundestag.[29]

Representatives from SPD and CDU called for an investigation into the incident and warned of antisemitic tendencies within The Left party.[27] Koçak's explanation of not having known who Remmo or Ibrahim were was deemed "unconvincing" by other parties' representatives. The Green's Andreas Audretsch said: "Issa Remmo is a central figure in organised crime. You don't just bump into him at events".[29] Veteran The Left MP Gregor Gysi said in a parliamentary debate that "obviously ... Koçak made a mistake; we are investigating that."[29] Following the controversy, Koçak announced he would give up his seat on the Bundestag's Committee on Internal Affairs and stop making public appearances, though he remains a member of the Bundestag. In a public statement, he repeated that "I am neither a criminal nor do I support organised crime" and admitted to making a mistake.[30] Issa Remmo himself later confirmed his relationship to Koçak, telling Die Welt "they tore Ferat apart, what was he supposed to do?", and clarifying "of course he knows me".[31] On 9 October, Left leader in the Bundestag Sören Pellmann told the press there would be no further consequences for Koçak and he would be reassigned to another committee to be determined.[32]"Berlin: Linke Bundestagsabgeordnete attackieren Sondierungsvereinbarung mit Grünen und SPD". Der Spiegel (in German). 9 October 2026.</ref>

Debate over a Left-led government

[edit]

The debate and controversy produced competing open letters from Jewish Berliners. On 24 September, 150 Jewish Berliners published a letter defending The Left against accusations of antisemitism and supporting a possible coalition with the SPD and Greens.[33] On 7 October, another initiative, with 190 signatories, called on the SPD and Greens not to form a coalition with The Left, describing antisemitism within the party as a structural problem.[34] SPD federal leaders Bärbel Bas and Lars Klingbeil warned The Left that it "clearly may not leave one millimeter of space for antisemitism or organised criminals in its ranks", and that the party would be judged thereon.[35] Chancellor Friedrich Merz went further, calling on the SPD and Greens to join the CDU in Berlin for a black-red-green coalition rather than a red–red–green coalition,[36] even as his party allegedly—as the ballot was secret—helped the AfD to win its first key state post in Saxony-Anhalt.[37] Merz's appeal came as The Left, SPD, and Greens were still engaged in talks over forming a government.[36]

Government formation

[edit]

On 25 September, a large majority of The Left's members voted in favor of beginning exploratory talks with the Greens and SPD. The Greens voted in favor earlier in the week and the SPD did as well the following day, leading to talks for a red–red–green coalition.[38] In light of the Koçak controversy, Greens federal co-leader Franziska Brantner set a condition that her party would not accept a member of The Left as senator of the interior or justice.[39]

Both the SPD and Greens demanded The Left make a clear commitment against antisemitism, which the party then inserted into the binding agreement (Mandatsträgervereinbarung, "mandate-holder's agreement") that elected members must sign as a condition of taking their seat.[40] Before beginning exploratory talks, the three parties had initial meetings beginning on 1 October to obtain further assurances from The Left that it is taking concrete steps to distance itself from antisemitism, racism, and organised crime.[41] After two meetings, the parties issued identical statements on 3 October they had agreed on a "common way forward" and would continue working together.[42] Despite this, a third meeting on 7 October apparently led to little in the way of concrete progress. Afterward, Evers called the length of these initial talks indicative of a "serious problem" and emphasized that he is still open to an "alliance of reason" with the SPD and Greens.[43]

On 8 October, the parties announced they had reached an agreement and would proceed to exploratory coalition-building talks. This included a rejection of "any form of antisemitism" and a written commitment to Israel's right to exist, the two-state solution, and Palestinian self-determination. The agreement also provides for a panel of experts which any of the parties' parliamentary leaders may ask to review a potential antisemitic incident. Based on the experts' judgement, the affected party may impose consequences on its offending member up to and including expulsion from its group.[44] In a press conference later that day, Krach said that he expected The Left remove Koçak from its Bundestag group but otherwise referred to the party positively, in particular calling comparisons with the AfD "absolutely wrong ... the AfD is at its core an anti-democratic party. There are three democratic parties standing here in front of you."[45] The next day, an open letter signed by over 100 Left members – led by party executive and Bundestag member Tamara Mazzi and including 16 other Bundestag members and 3 House of Representatives members-elect – condemned the mechanism to handle antisemitic incidents as a "grave political mistake" and claimed that its definition of antisemitism is so broad that any public criticism of the Israeli occupation of Palestine could be subject to discipline. It also criticized the ability of the other parties to begin disciplinary proceedings against Left members and claimed their goal is to divide the party into "good" and "evil" parts.[32]

Notes

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 4 Commissioned by the Nius, a right-wing populist news portal,[21][22] which is not a member of the German Press Council and thus is not subject to its ethical standards. Other INSA polls that are listed are commissioned by Bild.
  2. ↑ BSW 3.9%, others 5.1%
  3. ↑ BSW 3%, others 9%
  4. ↑ BSW 3%, others 10%
  5. ↑ BSW 5.8%, others 6.5%
  6. 1 2 BSW 6%; others 9%
  7. ↑ Figures for "Other" are calculated as the remainder after the parties individually reported by Infratest dimap and may therefore be affected by rounding.

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "Verfassung von Berlin – Abschnitt III: Die Volksvertretung". www.berlin.de (in German). 3 January 2024. Archived from the original on 20 July 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  2. ↑ "Berliner Abgeordnetenhaus konstituiert sich". www.rbb24.de (in German). 5 November 2021. Archived from the original on 23 January 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  3. ↑ "Abgeordnetenhaus: Berliner Wahl wohl am 20. September 2026". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). ISSN 1865-2263. Archived from the original on 17 August 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  4. ↑ "Elections". Berlin.de (in German). 19 January 2022. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  5. ↑ "Berlin: Conservatives projected to win repeated vote". Deutsche Welle. 13 February 2023. Archived from the original on 13 February 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  6. ↑ "CDU board votes for coalition negotiations with SPD". Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (in German). 2 March 2023. Archived from the original on 9 July 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  7. ↑ "Ex-insurance salesman elected unlikely mayor of Berlin". France 24. 27 April 2023. Archived from the original on 6 May 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  8. ↑ "Berlins Regierender Bürgermeister Wegner tritt bei Wahl nicht mehr an". tagesschau.de (in German). 10 July 2026. Archived from the original on 10 July 2026. Retrieved 10 July 2026.
  9. ↑ "Stefan Evers: Finanzsenator als CDU-Spitzenkandidat in Berlin nominiert". Der Spiegel (in German). 10 July 2026. Archived from the original on 10 July 2026. Retrieved 10 July 2026.
  10. 1 2 3 ""Haben Spende in 24 Stunden zurücküberwiesen": Berliner SPD-Spitzenkandidat Krach wehrt sich gegen Verdacht der Bestechlichkeit". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). 9 September 2026. Archived from the original on 9 September 2026. Retrieved 9 September 2026.
  11. 1 2 3 "Staatsanwaltschaft Hannover ermittelt gegen Steffen Krach". rbb24.de (in German). 9 September 2026.
  12. 1 2 "SPD-Spitzenkandidat Krach will weiter Wahlkampf machen". rbb24.de (in German). 10 September 2026. Archived from the original on 10 September 2026. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  13. ↑ "Staatsanwaltschaft nennt erste Details zu Ermittlungen gegen Steffen Krach". Der Spiegel (in German). 10 September 2026.
  14. ↑ "Korruptionsverdacht gegen Berliner SPD-Spitzenkandidaten: Staatsanwaltschaft ermittelt in zwei Fällen gegen Steffen Krach". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). 10 September 2026.
  15. ↑ "Scharfe Wortgefechte bei letzter Abgeordnetenhaussitzung vor der Wahl". rbb24.de (in German). 10 September 2026. Archived from the original on 10 September 2026. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  16. ↑ "Berlin-Wahl 2026: Mögliche Koalitionen – Welche Parteienbündnisse könnte es geben?". www.morgenpost.de (in German). 8 September 2026.
  17. ↑ "What Can Article 15 Do? – Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung". www.rosalux.de. 2 February 2022. Archived from the original on 21 September 2026. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  18. ↑ "Berliner Wahlkämpfer verheddern sich in roten Linien". rbb24.de (in German). 7 August 2026.
  19. 1 2 3 "Vier von 21 Parteien nicht zur Abgeordnetenhauswahl zugelassen". rbb24.de (in German). 24 July 2026. Archived from the original on 25 September 2026. Retrieved 25 September 2026.
  20. 1 2 "Wahllokalsuche und Musterstimmzettel". www.berlin.de (in German). 10 August 2026. Archived from the original on 13 August 2026. Retrieved 28 August 2026.
  21. ↑ "'Nius': Fox News in German? – Media Diversity Institute". Media Diversity Institute – Media Diversity Institute. 17 June 2024. Archived from the original on 11 August 2026. Retrieved 23 July 2026.
  22. ↑ "Rechtspopulistisches Portal: BVG beendet Werbekampagne von Nius "mit sofortiger Wirkung"". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). 5 June 2026. Archived from the original on 28 August 2026. Retrieved 23 July 2026.
  23. ↑ "Wahl zum 20. Abgeordnetenhaus von Berlin am 20. September 2026 – Ergebnis Erststimme nach Wahlkreisen und weiteren Aggregaten". Der Landeswahlleiter für Berlin. 21 September 2026.
  24. ↑ "Analyse des Wahlverhaltens". tagesschau (in German). 21 September 2026. Archived from the original on 20 September 2026. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
  25. ↑ "Fünf Abgeordnete weniger: Berliner Abgeordnetenhaus wird kleiner". rbb24.de (in German). 2 October 2026.
  26. ↑ "Nach der Wahl in Berlin: Wahlleiter: Das Berliner Parlament wird kleiner". Die Zeit (in German). 2 October 2026.
  27. 1 2 "Berlin's far-left vote winners reject anti-semitism charges". Agence France-Presse. 21 September 2026. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  28. ↑ Röhlig, Marc (29 September 2026). "Verbindungen ins kriminelle Milieu: Auch Mitglieder eines zweiten arabischen Clans besuchten die Linken-Wahlparty – wer sind die Barbakhs?" (in German). Der Spiegel. Retrieved 29 September 2026.
  29. 1 2 3 "Far-left bid to govern Berlin complicated by antisemitism row". The Times of Israel. 23 September 2026. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  30. ↑ "Linke-Politiker Kocak gibt Sitz im Bundestags-Innenausschuss auf". rbb24.de (in German). 30 September 2026.
  31. ↑ Biermann, Til; Dobers, Jan-Henrik. "Issa Remmo über Koçak: „Die haben Ferat auseinandergenommen, was soll er machen? Natürlich kennt er mich"". DIE WELT (in German). Retrieved 9 October 2026.
  32. 1 2 Cite error: The named reference spon0910 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  33. ↑ "Berlin: 150 jüdische Berliner verteidigen Linke gegen Antisemitismus-Vorwürfe". Tagesschau.de (in German). 24 September 2026. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
  34. ↑ "Initiative von Jüdinnen und Juden wendet sich gegen Koalition mit der Linken". Jüdische Allgemeine (in German). 7 October 2026. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
  35. ↑ "Regierungsbildung in Berlin: SPD-Spitze an Linke: Antisemitismus nicht mit uns". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). 22 September 2026. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
  36. 1 2 "Merz warnt SPD und Grüne vor Linksbündnis in Berlin: 'Meine das sehr ernst'". T-online (in German). 7 October 2026. Retrieved 9 October 2026.
  37. ↑ Murray, Miranda (7 October 2026). "Germany's Merz warns extremism entering parliaments after AfD wins key state post". Reuters. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
  38. ↑ Mackenzie, James (20 September 2026). "Far-left party wins Berlin election, pledging to nationalise housing". Reuters. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
  39. ↑ "SPD will Sondierungsgespräche mit Linken und Grünen führen". Rbb24.de (in German). 26 September 2026. Retrieved 26 September 2026.
  40. ↑ "Linke-Fraktion will Position gegen Antisemitismus in Satzung festschreiben". Rbb24.de (in German). 29 September 2026. Retrieved 29 September 2026.
  41. ↑ "Berliner Linke, Grüne und SPD beenden erstes Treffen ohne Ergebnisse". Rbb24.de (in German). 1 October 2026. Retrieved 1 October 2026.
  42. ↑ "Linke, Grüne und SPD sehen 'gemeinsamen Weg'". Rbb24.de (in German). 3 October 2026. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
  43. ↑ "Linke, Grüne und SPD beenden Vorgespräche zu Sondierungen ohne Ergebnis". Rbb24.de (in German). 7 October 2026. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
  44. ↑ "Berlin: Linke, Grüne und SPD ebnen Weg für Sondierungsgespräche". Der Spiegel (in German). 8 October 2026. Retrieved 8 October 2026.
  45. ↑ "Linke, Grüne und SPD einigen sich auf Sondierungsgespräche". Rbb24.de (in German). 8 October 2026. Retrieved 8 October 2026.
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