Märkischer Kreis II

149 Märkischer Kreis II
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Märkischer Kreis II in 2025
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Population	268,100 (2019)
Electorate	195,816 (2021)
Major settlements	Iserlohn Menden Hemer
Area	611.7 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1980
Party	CDU
Member	Paul Ziemiak
Elected	2021

Märkischer Kreis II 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 149. It is located in southern North Rhine-Westphalia, comprising the northern part of the Märkischer Kreis district.

Märkischer Kreis II was created for the 1980 federal election. Since 2002, it has been represented by Paul Ziemiak of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Geography

Märkischer Kreis II is located in southern North Rhine-Westphalia. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the entirety of the Märkischer Kreis district excluding the municipalities of Halver, Herscheid, Kierspe, Lüdenscheid, Meinerzhagen, and Schalksmühle.

History

Märkischer Kreis II was created in 1980. In the 1980 through 1998 elections, it was constituency 123 in the numbering system. From 2002 through 2009, it was number 151. In the 2013 through 2021 elections, it was number 150. From the 2025 election, it has been number 149.

Originally, the constituency comprised the municipalities of Lüdenscheid, Altena, Meinerzhagen, Kierspe, Plettenberg, Werdohl, Halver, Herscheid, and Schalksmühle from the Märkischer Kreis district. It acquired its current borders in the 2002 election.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1980	123	Märkischer Kreis II	Märkischer Kreis district (only Lüdenscheid, Altena, Meinerzhagen, Kierspe, Plettenberg, Werdohl, Halver, Herscheid, and Schalksmühle municipalities)
1983
1987
1990
1994
1998
2002	151		Märkischer Kreis district (excluding Halver, Herscheid, Kierspe, Lüdenscheid, Meinerzhagen, and Schalksmühle municipalities)
2005
2009
2013	150
2017
2021
2025	149

Members

The constituency has been held by the Social Democratic Party (SPD) during all but two Bundestag terms since its creation. It was first represented by Günter Topmann from 1980 to 1983. Wolfgang Lohmann of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) won it in 1983 and served a single term. Lisa Seuster regained it for the SPD in 1987, and served until 1998. Dieter Dzewas was then representative from 1998 to 2002. Dagmar Freitag was elected in 2002 and served until 2021. Paul Ziemiak won the constituency for the CDU in 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1980	Günter Topmann	SPD	51.0
	1983	Wolfgang Lohmann	CDU	47.0
	1987	Lisa Seuster	SPD	47.3
	1990			45.2
	1994			48.8
	1998	Dieter Dzewas	SPD	52.0
	2002	Dagmar Freitag	SPD	49.7
	2005			47.5
	2009			41.0
	2013			41.7
	2017			38.6
	2021	Paul Ziemiak	CDU	33.6

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Märkischer Kreis II
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	Paul Ziemiak		47,937	33.6	4.2	40,368	28.3	5.7
	SPD	Bettina Lugk		43,346	30.4	8.2	42,230	29.6	3.8
	AfD	Daniel Bläsing		12,933	9.1		13,082	9.2	2.4
	Greens	Ingo Stuckmann		12,866	9.0	5.3	14,880	10.4	5.5
	FDP	Jochen Lipproß		12,749	8.9	1.8	17,125	12.0	1.4
	Left	Michael Thomas-Lienkämper		4,668	3.3	4.5	4,804	3.4	3.2
	Human Environment Animal Protection	Michael Siethoff		4,382	3.1		2,994	2.1	1.2
	FW	Hans Herbers		2,004	1.4		1,228	0.9	0.6
	dieBasis	Stefan Radtke		1,575	1.1		1,496	1.0
	PARTEI						1,300	0.9	0.3
	Team Todenhöfer						925	0.5
	Pirates						540	0.4	0.0
	Gesundheitsforschung						245	0.2	0.0
	LIEBE						222	0.2
	Volt						215	0.2
	NPD						185	0.1	0.1
	LfK						154	0.1
	Humanists						111	0.1	0.0
	Bündnis C						105	0.1
	ÖDP						85	0.1	0.0
	V-Partei3						75	0.1	0.0
	du.						68	0.0
	MLPD						52	0.0	0.0
	PdF						46	0.0
	DKP						32	0.0	0.0
	LKR						28	0.0
	SGP						13	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,229			1,081
Total valid votes				142,460			142,608
Turnout				143,689	73.4	0.8
	CDU gain from SPD		Majority	4,591	3.2

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Märkischer Kreis II
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 Dagmar Freitag		54,890	38.6	3.1	37,193	25.8	6.5
	CDU	Christel Voßbeck-Kayser		53,714	37.8	3.8	49,061	34.0	7.5
	FDP	Michael Schulte		15,221	10.7	8.8	19,328	13.4	8.9
	AfD						16,688	11.6	6.6
	Left	Christian Kißler		11,113	7.8	3.0	9,427	6.5	0.6
	Greens	John Haberle		5,356	3.8	0.6	7,060	4.9	0.7
	Independent	Konrad Maier		1,799	1.3
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,262	0.9
	PARTEI						931	0.6	0.2
	AD-DEMOKRATEN						729	0.5
	Pirates						604	0.4	1.9
	FW						421	0.3	0.0
	NPD						352	0.2	0.9
	Gesundheitsforschung						189	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						187	0.1	0.1
	DiB						138	0.1
	ÖDP						134	0.1	0.0
	DM						133	0.1
	BGE						130	0.1
	V-Partei³						111	0.1
	Die Humanisten						59	0.0
	MLPD						56	0.0	0.0
	DKP						15	0.0
	SGP						14	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				3,381			1,252
Total valid votes				142,093			144,222
Turnout				145,474	72.5	2.1
	SPD hold		Majority	1,176	0.8	0.7

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Märkischer Kreis II
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 Dagmar Freitag		59,821	41.7	0.7	46,318	32.3	3.5
	CDU	Christel Voßbeck-Kayser		59,768	41.6	5.3	59,536	41.5	6.0
	Left	Manuel Huff		6,926	4.8	2.4	8,463	5.9	2.7
	AfD			4,709	3.3		7,122	5.0
	Greens	Elke Olbrich-Tripp		4,498	3.1	1.1	7,971	5.6	1.7
	Pirates	Hans-Joachim Ossenberg		3,114	2.2		3,284	2.3	0.8
	FDP	Michael Schulte		2,792	1.9	6.1	6,431	4.5	9.7
	NPD			1,874	1.3	0.3	1,620	1.1	0.2
	PARTEI						625	0.4
	FW						389	0.3
	Volksabstimmung						363	0.3	0.1
	PRO						317	0.2
	REP						284	0.2	0.2
	Nichtwahler						194	0.1
	BIG						147	0.1
	ÖDP						145	0.1	0.0
	RRP						119	0.1	0.1
	Party of Reason						109	0.1
	MLPD						47	0.0	0.0
	PSG						31	0.0	0.0
	Die Rechte						27	0.0
	BüSo						18	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,695			1,637
Total valid votes				143,502			143,560
Turnout				145,197	70.4	0.8
	SPD hold		Majority	53	0.1	4.6

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Märkischer Kreis II
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 Dagmar Freitag		59,521	41.0	6.5	41,755	28.7	11.1
	CDU	Christel Voßbeck-Kayser		52,751	36.3	4.7	51,494	35.4	1.3
	FDP	Rainer Eckehard Krause		11,740	8.1	4.3	20,616	14.2	4.7
	Left	Karsten Renfordt		10,431	7.2	3.1	12,450	8.6	3.4
	Greens	Elke Olbrich-Tripp		6,207	4.3	2.2	10,589	7.3	2.1
	Pirates						2,181	1.5
	NPD	Timo Pradel		2,331	1.6	0.1	1,902	1.3	0.1
	Human Environment Animal Protection	Michael Siethoff		2,217	1.5		1,310	0.9	0.3
	FAMILIE						810	0.6	0.1
	RENTNER						786	0.5
	REP						555	0.4	0.2
	RRP						335	0.2
	Volksabstimmung						169	0.1	0.0
	DVU						105	0.1
	ÖDP						105	0.1
	Centre						67	0.0	0.0
	MLPD						48	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						25	0.0	0.0
	PSG						23	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,788			1,661
Total valid votes				145,198			145,325
Turnout				146,986	69.7	6.8
	SPD hold		Majority	6,770	4.7	1.8