Unterems (electoral district)

53°02′24″N 7°25′40″E/53.039999°N 7.427846°E/ 53.039999; 7.427846

Unterems 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 25. It is located in northwestern Lower Saxony, comprising the district of Leer and the northern part of the district of Emsland.

Unterems was created for the 1980 federal election. Since 2002, it has been represented by Gitta Connemann of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Geography

Unterems is located in northwestern Lower Saxony. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the entirety of the district of Leer and the northern part of the district of Emsland, specifically the municipalities of Haren, Papenburg, Rhede, and Twist and the Samtgemeinden of Dörpen, Lathen, Nordhümmling, Sögel, and Werlte.

History

Unterems was created in 1980 and contained parts of the abolished constituencies of Emden – Leer and Emsland. Originally, it was constituency 20 in the number system. From the 2002 through 2009 elections, it was constituency 26. Since the 2013 election, it has been constituency 25. Its borders have not changed since its creation.

Members

The constituency has been held by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since its creation. Its first representative was Rudolf Seiters, who served from 1980 to 2002. Since 2002, it has been represented by Gitta Connemann.

Election	Member	Party	%
Unterems Constituency created from Emden – Leer and Emsland
	1980	Rudolf Seiters	CDU	51.0
1983	56.8
1987	51.3
1990	56.6
1994	56.7
1998	49.4
	2002	Gitta Connemann	CDU	47.4
2005	47.1
2009	45.2
2013	54.7
2017	50.0
2021	44.4
2025	40.5

Election results

2025 election

Federal election (2025): Unterems
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 Gitta Connemann	79,773	40.5	3.9	64,643	32.8	2.9
	SPD	Anja Troff-Schaffarzyk	44,288	22.5	6.0	42,893	21.7	12.2
	AfD	Martina Uhr	40,000	20.3	12.5	41,176	20.9	12.7
	Greens	Julian Pahlke	13,738	7.0	2.5	14,267	7.2	3.4
	Left	Michel Rolandi	10,835	5.5	3.0	12,955	6.6	3.9
	BSW		7,344	3.7
	FDP	Ferhat Asi	4,977	2.5	3.7	7,717	3.9	6.2
	FW	Andreas Wilshusen	3,232	1.6		1,428	0.7	0.2
	Tierschutzpartei		2,081	1.1	0.1
	PARTEI		863	0.4	0.5
	Volt		677	0.3	0.2
	dieBasis		540	0.3	0.7
	Pirates		271	0.1	0.2
	BD		240	0.1
	Humanists		102	0.1	0.0
	MLPD		27	0.0	0.0
Informal votes	1,448			1,067
Total valid votes	196,843			197,224
Turnout	198,291	83.5	9.8
	CDU hold	Majority	35,485	18.0	2.1

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Unterems
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 Gitta Connemann	77,143	44.4	5.6	52,067	29.9	12.6
	SPD	Anja Troff-Schaffarzyk	49,440	28.5	0.4	59,229	34.0	6.4
	Greens	Julian Pahlke	16,434	9.5	4.7	18,576	10.7	4.8
	AfD	Holger Kühnlenz	13,584	7.8	0.2	14,248	8.2	0.2
	FDP	Ferhat Asi	10,763	6.2	1.8	17,671	10.1	2.3
	Left	Kai Jesiek	4,358	2.5	1.9	4,650	2.7	2.7
	Tierschutzpartei		2,044	1.2	0.5
	PARTEI		1,649	0.9	0.2
	dieBasis	Rafael Gil Brand	1,866	1.1		1,619	0.9
	FW		856	0.5	0.3
	Pirates		534	0.3	0.0
	Volt		334	0.2
	Team Todenhöfer		211	0.1
	NPD		161	0.1	0.1
	Independent	Siegfried Balzer	159	0.1
	Humanists		103	0.1
	V-Partei3		97	0.1	0.0
	du.		92	0.1
	ÖDP		58	0.0	0.0
	LKR		31	0.0
	DKP		28	0.0	0.0
	MLPD		18	0.0	0.0
Informal votes	2,079			1,550
Total valid votes	173,747			174,276
Turnout	175,826	73.7	1.2
	CDU hold	Majority	27,703	15.9	6.1

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Unterems
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 Gitta Connemann	87,406	50.0	4.7	74,173	42.4	6.4
	SPD	Markus Paschke	48,959	28.0	3.2	48,194	27.5	3.4
	AfD	Christoph Merkel	13,387	7.7		14,620	8.4	5.4
	Greens	Harald Kleem	8,255	4.7	0.4	10,258	5.9	0.1
	FDP	Marion Terhalle	7,758	4.4	1.8	13,629	7.8	3.8
	Left	Bettina Kubiak	7,726	4.4	0.5	9,459	5.4	1.3
	PARTEI	Marius Wolters	1,298	0.7		1,359	0.8
	Pirates		491	0.3
	Tierschutzpartei		1,185	0.7	0.0
	NPD		421	0.2	0.6
	FW		413	0.2	0.2
	BGE		159	0.1
	DiB		147	0.1
	DM		144	0.1
	ÖDP		127	0.1
	V-Partei³		122	0.1
	MLPD		30	0.0	0.0
	DKP		21	0.0
Informal votes	1,553			1,390
Total valid votes	174,789			174,952
Turnout	176,342	75.0	3.2
	CDU hold	Majority	38,447	22.0	1.5

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Unterems
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 Gitta Connemann	90,236	54.7	9.5	80,616	48.8	9.7
	SPD	Markus Paschke	51,409	31.2	1.9	51,079	30.9	3.3
	Greens	Harald Kleem	8,441	5.1	2.3	9,506	5.8	1.8
	Left	Charlotte Lenzen	6,426	3.9	3.5	6,771	4.1	4.7
	FDP	Hans-Michael Goldmann	4,288	1.6	6.9	6,537	4.0	8.8
	AfD		4,870	2.9
	Pirates		2,218	1.3	0.4
	FW	Ingo Tonsor	1,280	1.1		747	0.5
	NPD	Albert Wille	1,656	1.0	0.1	1,339	0.8	0.2
	Tierschutzpartei		1,070	0.6	0.1
	Independent	Ralf Lükensmeier	587	0.4
	PBC		281	0.2
	PRO		165	0.1
	REP		91	0.1
	MLPD		24	0.0	0.0
Informal votes	2,096			1,645
Total valid votes	164,863			165,314
Turnout	166,959	71.7	0.5
	CDU hold	Majority	38,827	23.5	7.6

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Unterems
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 Gitta Connemann	73,405	45.2	1.9	63,545	39.1	1.4
	SPD	Keno Borde	47,481	29.3	10.5	44,913	27.6	13.5
	FDP	Hans-Michael Goldmann	15,470	9.5	4.8	20,731	12.8	5.0
	Left	Franziska Junker	12,062	7.4	4.2	14,219	8.7	4.7
	Greens	Tammo Lenger	11,981	7.4	3.8	12,222	7.5	3.4
	Pirates		2,899	1.8
	NPD	Wilhelm Sudmann	1,862	1.1	0.1	1,707	1.1	0.0
	Tierschutzpartei		1,149	0.7	0.2
	RRP		648	0.4
	ÖDP		304	0.2
	DVU		152	0.1
	MLPD		28	0.0	0.0
Informal votes	2,392			2,136
Total valid votes	162,261			162,517
Turnout	164,653	71.3	6.9
	CDU hold	Majority	25,924	16.0	8.7

2005 election

Federal election (2005):Unterems
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 Gitta Connemann	82,559	47.1	0.3	71,136	40.5	1.1
	SPD	Clemens Bollen	69,621	39.7	2.8	72,167	41.1	3.6
	FDP	Hans-Michael Goldmann	8,246	4.7	1.2	13,634	7.8	0.9
	Greens	Meta Janssen-Kucz	6,246	3.6	0.2	7,242	4.1	0.1
	Left	Ursula Stevens-Kimpel	5,742	3.3	2.4	7,137	4.1	3.3
	NPD	Bernd Neumann	1,920	1.1		1,915	1.1	0.9
	PBC	Jürgen Förster	979	0.6		724	0.4	0.1
	Tierschutzpartei		893	0.5	0.1
	GRAUEN		376	0.2	0.1
	Pro German Center – Pro D-Mark Initiative		115	0.1
	BüSo		59	0.0	0.0
	MLPD		33	0.0
Informal votes	2,413			2,295
Total valid votes	175,313			175,431
Turnout	177,726	78.1	1.6
	CDU hold	Majority	12,938	7.4