Herne – Bochum II

Herne – Bochum 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 140. It is located in the Ruhr region of North Rhine-Westphalia, comprising the city of Herne and the eastern part of the city of Bochum.

140 Herne – Bochum II
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Herne – Bochum II in 2025
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Population	244,400 (2019)
Electorate	173,939 (2021)
Major settlements	Herne Bochum (partial)
Area	93.8 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	SPD
Member	Michelle Müntefering
Elected	2013, 2017, 2021

Herne – Bochum II was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2013, it has been represented by Michelle Müntefering of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).

Geography

Herne – Bochum II is located in the Ruhr region of North Rhine-Westphalia. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the entirety of the independent city of Herne and the city districts (Stadtbezirke) of 3 Bochum-Nord and 4 Bochum-Ost from the independent city of Bochum.

History

Herne – Bochum II was created in 1949, then known as Herne – Castrop-Rauxel. From 1980 through 1994, it was named Herne. In the 1998 election, it was named Herne – Bochum III. It acquired its current name in the 2002 election. In the 1949 election, it was North Rhine-Westphalia constituency 53 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1961, it was number 112. From 1965 through 1976, it was number 111. From 1980 through 1998, it was number 112. From 2002 through 2009, it was number 142. In the 2013 through 2021 elections, it was number 141. From the 2025 election, it has been number 140.

Originally, the constituency comprised the independent cities of Herne and Castrop-Rauxel. From 1980 through 1994, it was coterminous with the independent city of Herne. In the 1998 election, it comprised Herne as well as the Stadtteile of Bergen and Hiltrop from the independent city of Bochum. It acquired its current borders in the 2002 election.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1949	53	Herne – Castrop-Rauxel	Herne city Castrop-Rauxel city
1953	112
1957
1961
1965	111
1969
1972
1976
1980	112	Herne	Herne city
1983
1987
1990
1994
1998		Herne – Bochum III	Herne city Bochum city (only Bergen and Hiltrop Stadtteile)
2002	142	Herne – Bochum II	Herne city Bochum city (only 3 Bochum-Nord and 4 Bochum-Ost Stadtbezirke)
2005
2009
2013	141
2017
2021
2025	140

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 Heinrich Imig of the SPD 1949 until 1953, when it was won by Friedrich Welskop of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Ulrich Berger retained it for the CDU in the 1957 election, but Herbert Kriedemann regained it for the SPD in 1961 and served until 1972. Walter Arendt succeeded him and was representative until 1980, followed by Heinz Westphal until 1990. Dieter Maaß served from 1990 to 2002, when he was succeeded by Gerd Bollmann. Michelle Müntefering was elected in 2013, and re-elected in 2017 and 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1949	Heinrich Imig	SPD	41.7
	1953	Friedrich Welskop	CDU	44.1
	1957	Ulrich Berger	CDU	47.9
	1961	Herbert Kriedemann	SPD	48.4
	1965			54.9
	1969			57.7
	1972	Walter Arendt	SPD	66.0
	1976			62.9
	1980	Heinz Westphal	SPD	64.8
	1983			61.0
	1987			61.1
	1990	Dieter Maaß	SPD	58.4
	1994			62.2
	1998			65.5
	2002	Gerd Bollmann	SPD	61.5
	2005			59.4
	2009			51.7
	2013	Michelle Müntefering	SPD	48.7
	2017			41.8
	2021			43.4

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Herne – Bochum 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 Michelle Müntefering		52,792	43.4	1.6	46,578	38.2	4.0
	CDU	Christoph Bußmann		24,027	19.8	4.4	23,164	19.0	4.4
	Greens	Jacob Liedtke		14,262	11.7	6.2	15,383	12.6	6.8
	AfD	Markus Dossenbach		11,863	9.8	3.6	11,882	9.8	3.7
	FDP	Klaus Füßmann		8,455	7.0	0.2	10,623	8.7	0.4
	Left	Felix Oekentorp		4,667	3.8	4.2	5,029	4.1	4.5
	Human Environment Animal Protection						2,357	1.9	0.8
	PARTEI	Nana Miriam Sippel		2,550	2.1		1,467	1.2	0.2
	Team Todenhöfer						1,395	1.1
	FW	Andreas Walter		1,423	1.2		818	0.7	0.4
	dieBasis	Sven Heiermann		1,251	1.0		927	0.8
	Pirates						582	0.5	0.1
	Volt						273	0.2
	LIEBE						226	0.2
	Gesundheitsforschung						169	0.1	0.0
	NPD						168	0.1	0.3
	MLPD	Peter Weispfenning		220	0.2	0.1	124	0.1	0.1
	V-Partei3						110	0.1	0.0
	Humanists						109	0.1	0.0
	LfK						106	0.1
	ÖDP						76	0.1	0.0
	Bündnis C						68	0.1
	du.						67	0.1
	PdF						49	0.0
	LKR						46	0.0
	DKP						34	0.0	0.0
	SGP						11	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,535			1,204
Total valid votes				121,510			121,841
Turnout				123,045	70.7	0.7
	SPD hold		Majority	28,765	23.6	6.0

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Herne – Bochum 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 Michelle Müntefering		52,672	41.9	6.8	43,312	34.2	9.6
	CDU	Paul Ziemiak		30,361	24.1	6.2	29,629	23.4	4.7
	AfD	Armin Wolf		16,799	13.4		17,001	13.4	9.5
	Left	Daniel Kleibömer		10,064	8.0	0.4	10,860	8.6	0.5
	FDP	Klaus-Wilhelm Füßmann		8,448	6.7	5.2	11,560	9.1	6.3
	Greens	Sabine von der Beck		6,992	5.6	0.2	7,414	5.9	0.8
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,435	1.1
	PARTEI						1,234	1.0	0.6
	AD-DEMOKRATEN						1,106	0.9
	Pirates						788	0.6	1.8
	NPD						510	0.4	1.4
	FW						321	0.3	0.1
	MLPD	Peter Georg Weispfenning		408	0.3	0.0	201	0.2	0.0
	Gesundheitsforschung						177	0.1
	BGE						159	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						135	0.1	0.1
	V-Partei³						133	0.1
	ÖDP						131	0.1	0.0
	DiB						129	0.1
	DM						122	0.1
	Die Humanisten						83	0.1
	SGP						27	0.0	0.0
	DKP						23	0.0
Informal votes				2,230			1,484
Total valid votes				125,744			126,490
Turnout				127,974	71.4	2.4
	SPD hold		Majority	22,311	17.8	0.5

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Herne – Bochum 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	Michelle Müntefering		60,610	48.7	2.6	54,876	43.9	3.6
	CDU	Ingrid Fischbach		37,807	30.4	3.5	35,149	28.1	5.4
	Left	Markus Dowe		9,500	7.6		10,162	8.1	4.7
	Greens	Sabine von der Beck		7,194	5.8	4.1	8,275	6.6	2.1
	AfD						4,949	4.0
	Pirates	Andreas Prennig		3,779	3.0		3,078	2.5	0.8
	NPD	Markus Schumacher		3,348	2.7	0.6	2,225	1.8	0.5
	FDP	Frank Leschowski		1,894	1.5	5.3	3,528	2.8	6.3
	PARTEI						480	0.4
	PRO						463	0.4
	REP						439	0.4	0.8
	Volksabstimmung						267	0.2	0.1
	BIG						224	0.2
	FW						217	0.2
	MLPD	Peter Georg Weispfenning		398	0.3	0.6	198	0.2	0.0
	ÖDP						156	0.1	0.1
	Nichtwahler						152	0.1
	RRP						89	0.1	0.1
	Party of Reason						88	0.1
	Die Rechte						54	0.0
	PSG						40	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						24	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,397			1,794
Total valid votes				124,530			125,133
Turnout				126,927	69.0	0.9
	SPD hold		Majority	22,803	18.3	6.1

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Herne – Bochum 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 Gerd Bollmann		64,331	51.3	8.1	50,922	40.2	13.7
	CDU	Ingrid Fischbach		33,693	26.9	1.2	28,681	22.7	0.2
	Left						16,261	12.8	5.1
	Greens	Jörg Höhfeld		12,393	9.9	6.4	11,074	8.7	2.3
	FDP	Klaus-Wilhelm Füßmann		8,545	6.8	4.4	11,591	9.2	3.7
	Pirates						2,074	1.6
	REP	Bernd Blech		2,768	2.2	1.1	1,418	1.1	0.2
	NPD	Markus Schumacher		2,570	2.0	1.0	1,563	1.2	0.3
	Human Environment Animal Protection						944	0.7	0.1
	FAMILIE						604	0.5	0.0
	RENTNER						568	0.4
	RRP						236	0.2
	MLPD	Peter Georg Weispfenning		1,175	0.9	0.8	175	0.1	0.0
	DVU						164	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						93	0.1	0.0
	ÖDP						81	0.1
	Centre						60	0.0	0.0
	PSG						34	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						20	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				3,036			1,948
Total valid votes				125,475			126,563
Turnout				128,511	68.1	8.3
	SPD hold		Majority	30,638	24.4	9.0