Cloppenburg – Vechta

Cloppenburg – Vechta is an electoral constituency (German: Wahlkreis) represented in the Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituency 32. It is located in northwestern Lower Saxony, comprising the Cloppenburg and Vechta districts.^[1]

32 Cloppenburg – Vechta
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Cloppenburg – Vechta in 2025
State	Lower Saxony
Population	313,500 (2019)
Electorate	223,948 (2021)
Major settlements	Cloppenburg Vechta Lohne
Area	2,234.5 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	CDU
Member	Silvia Breher
Elected	2017, 2021

Cloppenburg – Vechta was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2017, it has been represented by Silvia Breher of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).^[2] It is considered one of the safest seats for the CDU, which often receives an absolute majority of the popular vote. This is partly due to the region being very catholic in an otherwise majority-Protestant state.

Geography

Cloppenburg – Vechta is located in northwestern Lower Saxony. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the entirety of the Cloppenburg and Vechta districts.^[1]

History

Cloppenburg – Vechta was created in 1949, then known as Vechta – Cloppenburg. From 1965 to 1980, it was named Cloppenburg. It acquired its current name in the 1980 election. In the inaugural Bundestag election, it was Lower Saxony constituency 9 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1961, it was number 31. From 1965 through 1998, it was number 27. From 2002 through 2009, it was number 33. Since 2013, it has been constituency 32.

Originally, the constituency comprised the districts of Cloppenburg and Vechta, as well as the municipalities of Großenkneten, Hatten, Wardenburg, and Wüsting from the Landkreis Oldenburg district. Since the 1965 election, it has comprised only the districts of Cloppenburg and Vechta.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1949	9	Vechta – Cloppenburg	Cloppenburg district Vechta district Landkreis Oldenburg district (only Großenkneten, Hatten, Wardenburg, and Wüsting municipalities)
1953	31
1957
1961
1965	27	Cloppenburg	Cloppenburg district Vechta district
1969
1972
1976
1980		Cloppenburg – Vechta
1983
1987
1990
1994
1998
2002	33
2005
2009
2013	32
2017
2021
2025

Members

The constituency has been held continuously by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since its creation. It is a traditional stronghold of the CDU, frequently the party's safest constituency. Its first representative was Georg Kühling, who served a single term from 1949 to 1953. He was succeeded by Kurt Schmücker, who served five terms. Manfred Carstens then represented it for nine terms from 1972 to 2005. Franz-Josef Holzenkamp served until 2017. Silvia Breher won the constituency in 2017, and was re-elected in 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1949	Georg Kühling	CDU	45.9
	1953	Kurt Schmücker	CDU	77.7
	1957			77.2
	1961			81.9
	1965			79.4
	1969			73.9
	1972	Manfred Carstens	CDU	70.8
	1976			72.7
	1980			71.5
	1983			74.8
	1987			70.0
	1990			71.8
	1994			67.7
	1998			61.9
	2002			62.2
	2005	Franz-Josef Holzenkamp	CDU	64.4
	2009			62.3
	2013			66.3
	2017	Silvia Breher	CDU	57.7
	2021			49.1

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Cloppenburg – Vechta[3]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	CDU	Y Silvia Breher		80,134	49.1	8.6	62,837	38.5	14.6
	SPD	Alexander Bartz[a]		33,825	20.7	0.4	40,212	24.6	6.9
	Greens	Tanja Meyer		17,366	10.6	6.3	18,093	11.1	6.0
	FDP	Carolin Abeln		14,397	8.8	3.7	19,747	12.1	2.7
	AfD	Waldemar Herdt		12,674	7.8	0.1	12,772	7.8	0.3
	Left	Tom Dobrowolski		3,542	2.2	1.9	3,549	2.2	2.2
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,579	1.0	0.5
	PARTEI						1,093	0.7	0.1
	dieBasis	Melanie Lorenz		1,248	0.8		1,088	0.7
	FW						792	0.5	0.2
	Pirates						474	0.3	0.1
	Volt						323	0.2
	Team Todenhöfer						268	0.2
	NPD						104	0.1	0.1
	Humanists						104	0.1
	du.						92	0.1
	ÖDP						80	0.0	0.0
	V-Partei3						67	0.0	0.0
	LKR						49	0.0
	DKP						17	0.0
	MLPD						12	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,321			1,155
Total valid votes				163,486			163,652
Turnout				164,507	73.5	0.9
	CDU hold		Majority	46,309	28.4	8.9

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Cloppenburg – Vechta[4]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	CDU	Silvia Breher		93,545	57.7	8.6	86,301	53.1	10.1
	SPD	Kristian Kater		32,997	20.4	0.9	28,870	17.8	2.0
	AfD	Holger Teuteberg		12,683	7.8	5.7	13,145	8.1	5.7
	FDP	Caroline Covolo		8,306	5.1	3.3	15,298	9.4	4.8
	Greens	Julius Flinks		7,034	4.3	0.6	8,207	5.0	0.8
	Left	Daniel Welp		6,640	4.1	1.6	7,145	4.4	1.6
	FW	Michael Osterloh		914	0.6	0.4	530	0.3	0.2
	PARTEI						868	0.5
	Human Environment Animal Protection						803	0.5	0.0
	Pirates						381	0.2	1.0
	NPD						308	0.2	0.4
	DM						181	0.1
	V-Partei³						134	0.1
	ÖDP						110	0.1
	DiB						105	0.1
	BGE						91	0.1
	MLPD						21	0.0	0.0
	DKP						18	0.0
Informal votes				1,550			1,153
Total valid votes				162,119			162,516
Turnout				163,669	74.4	3.3
	CDU hold		Majority	60,548	37.3	7.7

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Cloppenburg – Vechta[5]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	CDU	Y Franz-Josef Holzenkamp		101,015	66.3	4.0	96,401	63.2	8.7
	SPD	Gabriele Groneberg[b]		32,422	21.3	2.2	30,168	19.8	3.3
	Greens	Josef Diersen		5,702	3.7	0.7	6,488	4.3	1.1
	Left	Günter Kreßmann		3,821	2.5	2.2	4,259	2.8	2.3
	AfD	Holger Teuteberg		3,238	2.1		3,576	2.3
	FDP	Peter Friedhoff		2,812	1.8	6.8	7,073	4.6	11.0
	Pirates						1,816	1.2	0.1
	FW	Heinrich Luhr		1,451	1.0		799	0.5
	FAMILIE	André Schäfer		1,022	0.7
	NPD	Ralf Thomas Taube		870	0.6	0.3	877	0.6	0.2
	Human Environment Animal Protection						681	0.4	0.1
	PBC						250	0.2
	PRO						104	0.1
	REP						51	0.0
	MLPD						21	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,416			1,205
Total valid votes				152,353			152,564
Turnout				153,769	71.1	1.0
	CDU hold		Majority	68,593	45.0	1.8

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Cloppenburg – Vechta[6]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	CDU	Y Franz-Josef Holzenkamp		91,686	62.3	2.2	80,355	54.5	2.7
	SPD	Gabriele Groneberg		28,053	19.1	7.5	24,358	16.5	8.8
	FDP	Peter Friedhoff		12,700	8.6	4.7	23,001	15.6	5.4
	Left	Markus Schalk		6,927	4.7	2.8	7,518	5.1	2.8
	Greens	Josef Dobelmann		6,575	4.5	2.1	7,827	5.3	2.0
	Pirates						1,953	1.3
	NPD	Cora Meyer		1,286	0.9	0.1	1,132	0.8	0.0
	Human Environment Animal Protection						766	0.5	0.1
	RRP						372	0.3
	ÖDP						108	0.1
	DVU						85	0.0
	MLPD						35	0.0
Informal votes				1,708			1,425
Total valid votes				147,227			147,510
Turnout				148,935	70.1	7.6
	CDU hold		Majority	63,633	43.2	5.3

Notes

1. Bartz entered the Bundestag on the SPD list after the resignation of Falko Mohrs in November 2022.
2. Groneberg entered the Bundestag on the SPD list after the resignation of Sebastian Edathy in February 2014.

References

1. "Constituency Cloppenburg – Vechta". Federal Returning Officer.
2. "Results for Cloppenburg – Vechta". Federal Returning Officer.
3. Results for Cloppenburg – Vechta
4. Results for Cloppenburg – Vechta
5. Results for Cloppenburg – Vechta
6. Results for Cloppenburg – Vechta