Montabaur (electoral district)

203 Montabaur
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Montabaur in 2025
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
Population	272,800 (2019)
Electorate	210,816 (2021)
Major settlements	Montabaur Diez an der Lahn Höhr-Grenzhausen
Area	1,508.2 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	SPD
Member	Tanja Machalet
Elected	2021

Montabaur 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 203. It is located in northern Rhineland-Palatinate, comprising the district of Westerwaldkreis and the eastern part of the Rhein-Lahn-Kreis district.

Montabaur was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2021, it has been represented by Tanja Machalet of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).

Geography

Montabaur is located in northern Rhineland-Palatinate. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the district of Westerwaldkreis and, from the district of Rhein-Lahn-Kreis, the Verbandsgemeinden of Aar-Einrich, Diez, and Nastätten, and the municipalities of Attenhausen, Dessighofen, Dienethal, Dornholzhausen, Geisig, Hömberg, Lollschied, Misselberg, Nassau, Obernhof, Oberwies, Pohl, Schweighausen, Seelbach, Singhofen, Sulzbach, Weinähr, Winden, and Zimmerschied from the Bad Ems-Nassau Verbandsgemeinde.

History

Montabaur was created in 1949, then known as Westerburg. It acquired its current name in the 1965 election. In the 1949 election, it was Rhineland-Palatinate constituency 8 in the numbering system. In the 1953 through 1976 elections, it was number 155. In the 1980 through 1998 elections, it was number 153. In the 2002 election, it was number 207. In the 2005 election, it was number 206. In the 2009 and 2013 elections, it was number 205. In the 2017 and 2021 elections, it was number 204. From the 2025 election, it has been number 203.

Originally, the constituency comprised the districts of Oberwesterwaldkreis, Unterwesterwaldkreis, Unterlahnkreis, and St. Goarshausen. While its borders did not change until the 2002 election, a number of administrative changes took place in the following decades: in 1961, the St. Goarshausen district was renamed Loreleykreis; in 1969, the Unterlahnkreis and Loreleykreis districts were merged into the new Rhein-Lahn-Kreis district; and in 1974, the Oberwesterwaldkreis and Unterwesterwaldkreis districts were merged into the new Westerwaldkreis district. The constituency acquired its current borders in the 2002 election.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1949	8	Westerburg	Westerwaldkreis Rhein-Lahn-Kreis
1953	155
1957
1961
1965		Montabaur
1969
1972
1976
1980	153
1983
1987
1990
1994
1998
2002	207		Westerwaldkreis Rhein-Lahn-Kreis (only Aar-Einrich, Diez, Nastätten, and Bad Ems-Nassau (only Attenhausen, Dessighofen, Dienethal, Dornholzhausen, Geisig, Hömberg, Lollschied, Misselberg, Nassau, Obernhof, Oberwies, Pohl, Schweighausen, Seelbach, Singhofen, Sulzbach, Weinähr, Winden, and Zimmerschied municipalities) Verbandsgemeinden)
2005	206
2009	205
2013
2017	204
2021
2025	203

Members

The constituency has been held by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) during all but two Bundestag terms since its creation. It was first represented by Robert Stauch of the CDU from 1949 to 1965, followed by August Hanz until 1972. Willi Peiter of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) was elected in 1972 and served a single term. Former member Hanz regained it in 1976 and served until 1987. Joachim Hörster was then representative from 1987 to 1998. Rudolf Scharping of the SPD was elected in 1998 and served a single term. Former member Hörster regained it in 2002 and served until 2013. Andreas Nick was elected 2013 and re-elected in 2017. Tanja Machalet won the constituency for the SPD in 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1949	Robert Stauch	CDU	53.7
	1953			54.1
	1957			55.5
	1961			48.8
	1965	August Hanz	CDU	51.2
	1969			49.8
	1972	Willi Peiter	SPD	48.0
	1976	August Hanz	CDU	49.3
	1980			46.0
	1983			52.9
	1987	Joachim Hörster	CDU	48.3
	1990			48.0
	1994			47.0
	1998	Rudolf Scharping	SPD	47.2
	2002	Joachim Hörster	CDU	45.9
	2005			46.6
	2009			43.2
	2013	Andreas Nick	CDU	49.4
	2017			43.3
	2021	Tanja Machalet	SPD	31.5

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Montabaur
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	Tanja Machalet		50,975	31.5	1.7	49,346	30.3	5.7
	CDU	N Andreas Nick		48,607	30.0	13.3	43,125	26.5	11.0
	FDP	Dennis Sturm		15,101	9.3	0.2	19,021	11.7	0.7
	Greens	Torsten Klein		14,276	8.8	3.6	16,832	10.3	4.1
	AfD	Robin Classen		14,090	8.7		14,565	9.0	2.1
	FW	Sascha Kraft		8,954	5.5	0.0	6,432	4.0	2.4
	Left	Natalie Brosch		4,483	2.8	4.2	4,690	2.9	3.0
	Human Environment Animal Protection						2,424	1.5
	PARTEI	Claudia Boas		2,887	1.8		1,657	1.0	0.1
	dieBasis	Jens-Christian Steuler		2,384	1.5		2,100	1.3
	Pirates						588	0.4	0.1
	Team Todenhöfer						539	0.3
	Volt						504	0.3
	Independent	Wotan Engels		336	0.2
	ÖDP						223	0.1	0.0
	NPD						193	0.1	0.1
	V-Partei3						139	0.1	0.2
	Humanists						138	0.1
	DiB						104	0.1
	LKR						67	0.0
	MLPD						24	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,172			1,454
Total valid votes				161,993			162,711
Turnout				164,165	77.9	0.0
	SPD gain from CDU		Majority	2,368	1.5

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Montabaur
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 Andreas Nick		68,727	43.3	6.0	60,594	37.5	7.8
	SPD	Gabi Weber		47,312	29.8	1.2	39,906	24.7	3.1
	AfD						17,826	11.0	5.9
	FDP	Thorsten Hehl		14,543	9.2	6.7	17,703	10.9	5.7
	Left	Martin Klein		11,098	7.0	2.2	9,576	5.9	0.9
	FW	Astrid Bergmann-Hartl		8,792	5.5	3.0	2,445	1.5	0.2
	Greens	Michael Musil		8,225	5.2	0.8	10,058	6.2	0.1
	PARTEI						1,500	0.9
	Pirates						688	0.4	1.6
	V-Partei³						425	0.3
	NPD						421	0.3	0.9
	BGE						308	0.2
	ÖDP						275	0.2	0.0
	MLPD						34	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				4,823			1,761
Total valid votes				158,697			161,759
Turnout				163,520	77.8	4.3
	CDU hold		Majority	21,415	13.5	4.9

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Montabaur
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	Andreas Nick		74,887	49.3	6.2	69,119	45.2	10.2
	SPD	Gabi Weber		47,097	31.0	1.6	42,500	27.8	4.0
	Greens	Andrea Weber		9,014	5.9	1.1	9,646	6.3	2.3
	Left	Martin Klein		7,217	4.8	3.1	7,724	5.1	3.6
	FW	Armin Hillingshäuser		3,796	2.5		1,945	1.3
	FDP	Kai Mifka		3,714	2.4	8.5	7,994	5.2	13.3
	AfD						7,831	5.1
	Pirates	Maik Nauheim		3,707	2.4		3,104	2.0	0.1
	NPD	Marcel Müller		2,341	1.5	0.0	1,705	1.1	0.1
	Party of Reason						316	0.2
	PRO						300	0.2
	ÖDP						291	0.2	0.0
	REP						279	0.2	0.2
	MLPD						77	0.1	0.0
Informal votes				3,327			2,269
Total valid votes				151,773			152,831
Turnout				155,100	73.5	1.1
	CDU hold		Majority	27,790	18.3	4.5

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Montabaur
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 Joachim Hörster		65,215	43.2	3.4	53,078	35.0	3.5
	SPD	Björn Walden		44,416	29.4	8.9	36,122	23.8	10.0
	FDP	Thomas Bläsche		16,541	10.9	6.4	28,104	18.5	6.1
	Left	Martin Klein		11,884	7.9	3.5	13,186	8.7	3.6
	Greens	Michael Musil		10,685	7.1	3.3	13,047	8.6	1.9
	Pirates						2,948	1.9
	NPD	Christian Greeb		2,347	1.6	0.0	1,895	1.2	0.1
	FAMILIE						1,627	1.1	0.1
	REP						638	0.4	0.1
	PBC						540	0.4	0.2
	ÖDP						311	0.2
	DVU						118	0.1
	MLPD						31	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				3,255			2,698
Total valid votes				151,088			151,645
Turnout				154,343	72.4	6.6
	CDU hold		Majority	20,799	13.8	5.5