Hochsauerlandkreis (electoral district)

146 Hochsauerlandkreis
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Hochsauerlandkreis in 2025
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Population	259,800 (2019)
Electorate	200,496 (2021)
Major settlements	Arnsberg Meschede Sundern
Area	1,960.2 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1980
Party	CDU
Member	Friedrich Merz
Elected	2021, 2025

Hochsauerlandkreis 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 146. It is located in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, comprising the district of Hochsauerlandkreis. ^[1]

Hochsauerlandkreis was created for the 1980 federal election. Since 2021, it has been represented by Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). ^[2]

Geography

Hochsauerlandkreis is located in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia. As of the 2021 federal election, it is coterminous with the Hochsauerlandkreis district. ^[1]

History

Hochsauerlandkreis was created in 1980. In the 1980 through 1998 elections, it was constituency 119 in the numbering system. From 2002 through 2009, it was number 148. In the 2013 through 2021 elections, it was number 147. From the 2025 election, it has been number 146. Its borders have not changed since its creation.

Members

The constituency has been held continuously by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since its creation. It was first represented by Ferdinand Tillmann from 1980 to 1994. Friedrich Merz was representative from 1994 to 2009. Patrick Sensburg was elected in 2009, and re-elected in 2013 and 2017. Former member Merz successfully sought election again in 2021 and was re-elected in 2025. In the same election Merz became Chancellor of Germany.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1980	Ferdinand Tillmann	CDU	57.4
	1983			62.9
	1987			57.6
	1990			55.4
	1994	Friedrich Merz		54.3
	1998			51.4
	2002			53.7
	2005			57.7
	2009	Patrick Sensburg		51.7
	2013			56.1
	2017			48.0
	2021	Friedrich Merz		40.4
	2025			47.7

Election results

2025 election

Federal election (2025): Hochsauerlandkreis [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 Friedrich Merz		78,620	47.7	7.3	71,615	43.6	10.2
	SPD	Dirk Wiese		35,079	21.4	10.8	26,873	16.4	12.3
	AfD	Bernhard Bühner		26,025	15.9	9.4	27,390	16.7	9.3
	Greens	Sandra Stein		10,025	6.1	1.9	12,026	7.3	2.6
	Left	Lara Kuse		7,646	4.7	2.9	8,774	5.3	2.8
	BSW						5,295	3.2
	FDP	Carl-Julius Cronenberg		4,182	2.6	4.4	6,299	3.8	8.2
	FW	Sebastian Vielhaber		2,783	1.7	0.3	1,142	0.7	0.3
	Tierschutzpartei						1,958	1.2	0.1
	PARTEI					1.9	908	0.6	0.7
	Volt						785	0.5	0.3
	dieBasis					0.9	336	0.2	0.7
	Team Todenhöfer						215	0.1	0.1
	PdF						213	0.1	0.1
	BD						202	0.1
	Values						86	0.1
	MERA25						28	0.0
	MLPD						27	0.0	0.0
	Pirates								0.3
	Gesundheitsforschung								0.1
	ÖDP								0.1
	Humanists								0.1
	Bündnis C								0.0
	SGP								0.0
Informal votes				1,047			865
Total valid votes				164,000			164,182
Turnout				165,047	83.9	5.8
	CDU hold		Majority	43,541	26.3

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Hochsauerlandkreis [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	Friedrich Merz		62,810	40.4	7.5	52,017	33.5	8.2
	SPD	Dirk Wiese		50,056	32.2	5.3	44,640	28.7	5.9
	Greens	Maria Tillmann		12,478	8.0	3.8	15,473	10.0	5.2
	FDP	Carl-Julius Cronenberg		10,806	7.0	1.5	18,712	12.0	2.3
	AfD	Otto Strauß		10,068	6.5	0.8	11,532	7.4	0.6
	PARTEI	Andreas Hövelmann		2,909	1.9		1,983	1.3	0.7
	Left	Karl-Ludwig Gössling		2,685	1.7	2.5	3,989	2.6	2.8
	Tierschutzpartei						1,943	1.2	0.6
	FW	Sebastian Vielhaber		2,224	1.4	0.5	1,583	1.0	0.5
	dieBasis	Klaus Selter		1,381	0.9		1,346	0.9
	Pirates						462	0.3	0.0
	Team Todenhöfer						380	0.2
	Volt						332	0.2
	LIEBE						186	0.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						181	0.1	0.0
	LfK						128	0.1
	NPD						122	0.1	0.1
	ÖDP						99	0.1	0.0
	V-Partei3						87	0.1	0.0
	Humanists						80	0.1	0.0
	Bündnis C						69	0.0
	du.						52	0.0
	PdF						37	0.0
	LKR						28	0.0
	MLPD						14	0.0	0.0
	DKP						11	0.0	0.0
	SGP						8	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,101			1,024
Total valid votes				155,417			155,494
Turnout				156,518	78.1	2.1
	CDU hold		Majority	12,754	8.2	12.8

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Hochsauerlandkreis [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 Patrick Sensburg		73,185	48.0	8.2	63,651	41.7	8.0
	SPD	Dirk Wiese		41,047	26.9	3.0	34,865	22.8	5.2
	FDP	Carl-Julius Cronenberg		12,893	8.4	6.5	21,919	14.3	9.3
	AfD	Hans-Martin Schaefer		11,115	7.3		12,216	8.0	4.6
	Greens	Annika Neumeister		6,476	4.2	0.0	7,198	4.7	0.1
	Left	Reinhard Prange		6,452	4.2	0.1	8,183	5.4	0.7
	Tierschutzpartei						930	0.6
	PARTEI						906	0.6	0.4
	FW	Christa Hudyma		1,447	0.9	0.5	841	0.6	0.2
	Pirates						530	0.3	1.6
	NPD						324	0.2	0.6
	AD-DEMOKRATEN						268	0.2
	Gesundheitsforschung						156	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						141	0.1	0.1
	ÖDP						139	0.1	0.0
	V-Partei³						121	0.1
	DM						119	0.1
	BGE						100	0.1
	DiB						98	0.1
	Die Humanisten						47	0.0
	MLPD						47	0.0	0.0
	DKP						13	0.0
	SGP						2	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,399			1,200
Total valid votes				152,615			152,814
Turnout				154,014	76.0	2.3
	CDU hold		Majority	32,138	21.1	5.1

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Hochsauerlandkreis [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 Patrick Sensburg		83,952	56.1	4.4	74,530	49.7	7.7
	SPD	Dirk Wiese		44,682	29.9	3.2	42,054	28.0	3.6
	Greens	Antonius Becker		6,308	4.2	1.1	7,161	4.8	1.5
	Left	Beate Raberg		6,159	4.1	2.1	7,055	4.7	2.0
	AfD						5,140	3.4
	Pirates			3,280	2.2		2,940	2.0	0.6
	FDP	Hans-Werner Ehrenberg		2,878	1.9	7.2	7,625	5.1	11.2
	NPD			1,708	1.1	0.1	1,269	0.8	0.0
	FW			637	0.4		533	0.4
	PARTEI						359	0.2
	Volksabstimmung						319	0.2	0.1
	PRO						278	0.2
	ÖDP						173	0.1	0.0
	REP						160	0.1	0.1
	Nichtwahler						131	0.1
	Party of Reason						88	0.1
	RRP						85	0.1	0.1
	BIG						43	0.0
	PSG						39	0.0	0.0
	Die Rechte						22	0.0
	MLPD						22	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						20	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,123			1,681
Total valid votes				149,604			150,046
Turnout				151,727	73.7	1.0
	CDU hold		Majority	39,270	26.2	1.1

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Hochsauerlandkreis [7]
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	Patrick Sensburg		77,687	51.7	6.0	63,133	41.9	4.7
	SPD	Karsten Rudolph		40,010	26.6	7.5	36,741	24.4	9.2
	FDP	Hans-Werner Ehrenberg		13,753	9.1	6.7	24,530	16.3	6.6
	Left	Rüdiger Sagel		9,362	6.2	3.3	10,064	6.7	3.1
	Greens	Heiko M. Kosow		7,966	5.3	3.3	9,460	6.3	2.2
	Pirates						2,008	1.3
	NPD	Daniela Wegener		1,537	1.0	0.3	1,223	0.8	0.2
	FAMILIE						910	0.6	0.1
	Tierschutzpartei						809	0.5	0.1
	RENTNER						601	0.4
	REP						306	0.2	0.2
	RRP						206	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						146	0.1	0.0
	Centre						121	0.1	0.0
	ÖDP						112	0.1
	DVU						96	0.1
	PSG						26	0.0	0.0
	MLPD						25	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						23	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,927			1,702
Total valid votes				150,315			150,540
Turnout				152,242	72.7	6.7
	CDU hold		Majority	37,677	25.1	1.5

References

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