Gelsenkirchen (electoral district)

Gelsenkirchen 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 122. It is located in the Ruhr region of North Rhine-Westphalia, comprising the city of Gelsenkirchen.^[1]

122 Gelsenkirchen
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Gelsenkirchen in 2025
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Population	259,600 (2019)
Electorate	168,496 (2021)
Major settlements	Gelsenkirchen
Area	104.9 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	SPD
Member	Markus Töns
Elected	2017, 2021

Gelsenkirchen was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2017, it has been represented by Markus Töns of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).^[2]

Geography

Gelsenkirchen is located in the Ruhr region of North Rhine-Westphalia. As of the 2021 federal election, it is coterminous with the independent city of Gelsenkirchen.^[1]

History

Gelsenkirchen was created in 1949. From 1965 through 1998, it was named Gelsenkirchen I. It acquired its current name in the 2002 election. In the 1949 election, it was North Rhine-Westphalia constituency 40 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1961, it was number 99. From 1965 through 1976, it was number 97. From 1980 through 1998, it was number 93. From 2002 through 2009, it was number 124. In the 2013 through 2021 elections, it was number 123. From the 2025 election, it has been number 122.

Originally, the constituency was coterminous with the city of Gelsenkirchen. From 1965 through 1976, it comprised the Stadtteile of Hassel, Buer, Horst, Heßler, and Rotthausen. From 1980 through 1998, it comprised the Stadtbezirke of Mitte, West, and Süd. Since the 2002 election, it has again been coterminous with the city of Gelsenkirchen.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1949	40	Gelsenkirchen	Gelsenkirchen city
1953	99
1957
1961
1965	97	Gelsenkirchen I	Gelsenkirchen city (only Hassel, Buer, Horst, Heßler, and Rotthausen Stadtteile)
1969
1972
1976
1980	93		Gelsenkirchen city (only Hassel, Mitte, West, and Süd Stadtbezirke)
1983
1987
1990
1994
1998
2002	124	Gelsenkirchen	Gelsenkirchen city
2005
2009
2013	123
2017
2021
2025	122

Members

The constituency has been held continuously by the Social Democratic Party (SPD) since its creation. It was first represented by Robert Geritzmann from 1949 to 1961, followed by Walter Arendt for a single term. Josef Löbbert was elected at the 1965 federal election and served three terms. Heinz Menzel then served one term from 1976 to 1980. Joachim Poß was representative from 1980 to 2017, a total of ten consecutive terms. Markus Töns succeeded him in the 2017 election. He was re-elected in 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1949	Robert Geritzmann	SPD	36.5
	1953			43.5
	1957			47.5
	1961	Walter Arendt	SPD	48.6
	1965	Josef Löbbert	SPD	56.2
	1969			58.9
	1972			66.2
	1976	Heinz Menzel	SPD	63.0
	1980	Joachim Poß	SPD	59.9
	1983			60.2
	1987			59.4
	1990			55.9
	1994			59.3
	1998			65.4
	2002			60.3
	2005			59.7
	2009			54.3
	2013			50.5
	2017	Markus Töns	SPD	38.3
	2021			40.5

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Gelsenkirchen[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	%	±%
	SPD	Y Markus Töns		44,965	40.5	2.1	41,326	37.1	3.7
	CDU	Laura Rosen		21,954	19.8	5.6	22,091	19.9	2.6
	AfD	Jörg Schneider		15,555	14.0	2.9	14,204	12.8	4.3
	Greens	Irene Mihalic		11,286	10.2	5.5	11,170	10.0	5.4
	FDP	Marco Buschmann		9,014	8.1	1.4	9,721	8.7	0.4
	Left	Ayten Kaplan		3,559	3.2	3.3	3,853	3.5	3.9
	Human Environment Animal Protection						2,572	2.3	1.2
	Team Todenhöfer						1,753	1.6
	PARTEI	Claudia Kapuschinski		1,904	1.7		1,245	1.1	0.3
	dieBasis	Frank Lustig		1,118	1.0		775	0.7
	FW	Frank Perlik		1,054	0.9	0.1	723	0.6	0.3
	Pirates						394	0.4	0.1
	MLPD	Lisa Gärtner		356	0.3	0.2	222	0.2	0.1
	Independent	Ronald Wetklo		319	0.3
	Volt						186	0.2
	LIEBE						184	0.2
	NPD						181	0.2	0.2
	Gesundheitsforschung						176	0.2	0.0
	LfK						128	0.1
	V-Partei3						70	0.1	0.0
	Humanists						69	0.1	0.0
	Bündnis C						55	0.0
	ÖDP						51	0.0	0.0
	du.						51	0.0
	DKP						28	0.0	0.0
	PdF						22	0.0
	LKR						21	0.0
	SGP						13	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,233			1,033
Total valid votes				111,084			111,284
Turnout				112,317	66.7	1.5
	SPD hold		Majority	23,011	20.7	7.7

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Gelsenkirchen[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	%	±%
	SPD	Markus Töns		45,017	38.3	12.1	39,524	33.5	10.6
	CDU	Oliver Wittke		29,768	25.4	3.3	26,452	22.4	5.3
	AfD	Jörg Schneider		19,836	16.9	13.1	20,113	17.0	12.3
	FDP	Marco Buschmann		7,864	6.7	5.0	10,834	9.2	6.2
	Left	Ingrid Remmers		7,614	6.5	0.4	8,703	7.4	0.2
	Greens	Irene Mihalic		5,444	4.6	1.0	5,489	4.6	0.8
	AD-DEMOKRATEN						1,904	1.6
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,273	1.1
	PARTEI						1,010	0.9	0.5
	Pirates						550	0.5	1.7
	FW	Iris Häger		1,276	1.1	0.5	461	0.4	0.0
	NPD						417	0.4	1.8
	MLPD	Lisa Ursula Gärtner		602	0.5	0.1	384	0.3	0.0
	Gesundheitsforschung						163	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						132	0.1	0.1
	BGE						115	0.1
	ÖDP						109	0.1	0.0
	V-Partei³						109	0.1
	DiB						100	0.1
	DM						86	0.1
	Die Humanisten						75	0.1
	DKP						39	0.0
	SGP						24	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,993			1,348
Total valid votes				117,421			118,066
Turnout				119,414	68.2	2.9
	SPD hold		Majority	15,249	12.9	9.0

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Gelsenkirchen[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	%	±%
	SPD	Y Joachim Poß		58,967	50.5	3.8	51,514	44.0	2.1
	CDU	Oliver Wittke		33,460	28.6	2.6	32,380	27.7	4.5
	Left	Ingrid Remmers		7,112	6.1		8,880	7.6	4.5
	AfD	Hartmut Preuß		4,405	3.8		5,553	4.7
	Greens	Irene Mihalic		4,270	3.7	3.9	6,413	5.5	1.4
	NPD	Dennis Blömer		2,833	2.4	1.1	2,562	2.2	0.5
	Pirates	Axel Kerstan		2,670	2.3		2,569	2.2	0.4
	FDP	Marco Buschmann		1,933	1.7	5.4	3,468	3.0	6.1
	PRO						702	0.6
	REP						463	0.4	0.5
	PARTEI						456	0.4
	BIG						455	0.4
	FW			701	0.6		448	0.4
	MLPD			493	0.4	1.1	398	0.3	0.0
	Volksabstimmung						205	0.2	0.1
	Nichtwahler						120	0.1
	Party of Reason						112	0.1
	ÖDP						82	0.1	0.0
	RRP						81	0.1	0.1
	Die Rechte						48	0.0
	PSG						22	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						17	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,608			1,504
Total valid votes				116,844			116,948
Turnout				118,452	65.3	0.4
	SPD hold		Majority	25,507	21.9	6.3

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Gelsenkirchen[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	%	±%
	SPD	Y Joachim Poß		64,623	54.3	5.4	50,435	42.0	11.8
	CDU	Wolfgang Meckelburg		31,011	26.1	0.3	27,930	23.2	0.0
	Greens	Robert Zion		9,013	7.6	4.9	8,327	6.9	1.2
	Left						14,497	12.1	4.2
	FDP	Marco Buschmann		8,344	7.0	4.5	10,846	9.0	3.6
	Pirates						2,148	1.8
	NPD	Joseph Mertens		4,199	3.5	2.0	2,018	1.7	0.5
	REP						1,094	0.9	0.2
	Human Environment Animal Protection						818	0.7	0.1
	FAMILIE						573	0.5	0.1
	RENTNER						510	0.4
	MLPD	Stefan Klaus Engel		1,831	1.5	1.1	454	0.4	0.0
	RRP						158	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						112	0.1	0.0
	DVU						108	0.1
	Centre						67	0.1	0.0
	ÖDP						52	0.0
	BüSo						33	0.0	0.0
	PSG						21	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,652			1,472
Total valid votes				119,021			120,201
Turnout				121,673	64.9	8.7
	SPD hold		Majority	33,612	28.2	5.1

References

1. "Constituency Gelsenkirchen". Federal Returning Officer.
2. "Results for Gelsenkirchen". Federal Returning Officer.
3. Results for Gelsenkirchen
4. Results for Gelsenkirchen
5. Results for Gelsenkirchen
6. Results for Gelsenkirchen