Wiesbaden chooses: Gert-Uwe Mende fights for second term!

On March 9, 2025, the mayor in Wiesbaden is pending. Incumbent Gert-Uwe Mende (SPD) strives for a second term of six years and was recently nominated at a general assembly of the SPD. There, 126 out of 128 members present voted for him, which corresponds to a share of 98.4 percent. Mende thanked the members for the clear vote and asked for trust for the upcoming election campaign.

In the past five years of his term, Mende emphasized that significant developments such as the construction of new schools, daycare centers, sports halls and town houses have been carried out. In addition, he reported on an increase in the completed apartments from 530 between 2003 and 2020 to over 1,400 in 2021 to 2023. In addition, over 10,000 new daycare places were created and more than 9,000 jobs subject to social security contributions were set up between 2019 and 2023. However, Mende was also concerned about existing challenges in the areas of traffic, climate protection and culture and demanded more financial support from the state and federal government for the municipalities.

candidates of election and competition

For the upcoming election, a total of nine candidates have been known. In addition to Gert-Uwe Mende, Gesine Bonnet from the Greens, Ingo von Seemen (left), Christian Hill from the "Pro Auto" initiative and Andreas Gutzeit from the Free Voting Community (FWG) compete. The CDU has nominated Thilo von Debschitz, a non -party entrepreneur, as candidates, while Ralf Offermanns goes into the race from the AfD. Lukas Haker from “Die Party” and Elmar Krebber from the independent list of Wiesbaden are new to the list, both of whom announced their candidatures shortly before the deadline. The election committee will decide on the admission of the election proposals on January 10th.

The last election six years earlier only had seven applicants, and Mende prevailed in a runoff against Eberhard Seidensticker from the CDU. Accordingly, the challenger has already addressed a variety of topics that were treated during the recent election period, including the need for an appreciative urban society and the promotion of respectful dealings with different opinions.

Gert-Uwe Mende Wiesbaden wants to preserve and position itself as a city for all people and clearly positions itself against extremist views. For his re-election, he hopes for the trust of the population and a continuation of his politics, which was characterized by crises such as Corona pandemic and the Ukraine decline.