Bottrop – Recklinghausen III

124 Bottrop – Recklinghausen III
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Bottrop – Recklinghausen III in 2025
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Population	267,900 (2019)
Electorate	199,344 (2021)
Major settlements	Bottrop Gladbeck Dorsten
Area	307.8 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	SPD
Member	Michael Gerdes
Elected	2009, 2013, 2017, 2021

Bottrop – Recklinghausen III 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 124. It is located in the Ruhr region of North Rhine-Westphalia, comprising the city of Bottrop and western parts of the Recklinghausen district.^[1]

Bottrop – Recklinghausen III was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2009, it has been represented by Michael Gerdes of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).^[2]

Bottrop – Recklinghausen III is located in the Ruhr region of North Rhine-Westphalia. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the independent city of Bottrop as well as the municipalities of Dorsten and Gladbeck from the Recklinghausen district.^[1]

Bottrop – Recklinghausen III was created in 1949, then known as Gladbeck – Bottrop. From 1965 through 1976, it was named Bottrop – Gladbeck. From 1980 through 1998, it was named Bottrop – Recklinghausen IV. It acquired its current name in the 2002 election. In the 1949 election, it was North Rhine-Westphalia constituency 43 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1961, it was number 102. From 1965 through 1976, it was number 101. From 1980 through 1998, it was number 95. From 2002 through 2009, it was number 126. In the 2013 through 2021 elections, it was number 125. From the 2025 election, it has been number 124.

Originally, the constituency comprised the independent cities of Bottrop and Gladbeck. Gladbeck was incorporated into the Recklinghausen district in 1976, but the constituency's borders did not change. In the 2002 election, it acquired the municipality of Dorsten from Recklinghausen district.

The constituency has been held by the Social Democratic Party (SPD) during all but three Bundestag terms since 1949. It was first represented by Wilhelm Tenhagen of the SPD from 1949 to 1953. Johann Harnischfeger of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) won it in 1953 and served three terms. Johann Wuwer regained it for the SPD in 1965 and served until 1980. Franz-Josef Mertens was then representative from 1980 to 1994, when he was succeeded by Dieter Grasedieck. In 2009, Michael Gerdes was elected representative. He was re-elected in 2013, 2017, and 2021.

Federal election (2021): Bottrop – Recklinghausen III[3]
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 Michael Gerdes		57,560	39.1	2.3	51,637	35.0	3.7
	CDU	Sven Volmering		39,834	27.0	6.6	36,814	24.9	4.9
	Greens	Kim Wiesweg		15,144	10.3	5.9	16,434	11.1	6.3
	AfD	Detlef Bauer		14,075	9.6	2.3	13,899	9.4	3.0
	FDP	Sebastian Steinzen		11,352	7.7	1.3	14,647	9.9	0.5
	Left	Lisa Ellermann		3,887	2.6	3.7	4,484	3.0	3.8
	Human Environment Animal Protection						2,536	1.7	0.8
	PARTEI	Ingo Lilienthal		3,283	2.2		1,757	1.2	0.5
	Team Todenhöfer						1,246	0.8
	dieBasis	Norbert Manniegel		1,373	0.9		1,048	0.7
	FW						661	0.4	0.3
	Pirates						526	0.4	0.1
	Volt						257	0.2
	DKP	Jörg Wingold		514	0.3	0.1	236	0.2	0.1
	LIEBE						232	0.2
	ÖDP						200	0.1	0.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						200	0.1	0.0
	LfK						152	0.1
	NPD						150	0.1	0.2
	V-Partei3						89	0.1	0.0
	Humanists						85	0.1	0.0
	LKR	Klausjochen Berger		226	0.2		81	0.1
	MLPD	Bärbel Kersken		108	0.1	0.1	78	0.1	0.0
	du.						76	0.1
	PdF						50	0.0
	Bündnis C						31	0.0
	SGP						17	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,378			1,111
Total valid votes				147,356			147,623
Turnout				148,734	74.6	0.3
	SPD hold		Majority	17,726	12.1	8.9

Federal election (2017): Bottrop – Recklinghausen III[4]
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 Michael Gerdes		55,128	36.8	9.0	47,013	31.2	8.9
	CDU	Sven Volmering		50,334	33.6	2.9	44,967	29.9	5.0
	AfD	Alfred Stegemann		17,756	11.8	8.1	18,710	12.4	8.3
	FDP	Tristian Zielinski		9,667	6.5	4.8	15,741	10.5	7.0
	Left	David Sperl		9,505	6.3	1.0	10,292	6.8	0.6
	Greens	Andrea Swoboda		6,522	4.4	0.7	7,248	4.8	0.6
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,330	0.9
	AD-DEMOKRATEN						1,140	0.8
	PARTEI						1,062	0.7	0.4
	Pirates						667	0.4	1.6
	NPD						421	0.3	1.2
	ÖDP						340	0.2	0.1
	DKP	Gerhard Horst Dorka		691	0.5		337	0.2
	FW						294	0.2	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						160	0.1	0.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						143	0.1
	DM						129	0.1
	MLPD	Mazhar Hasan Alias		256	0.2	0.0	119	0.1	0.0
	V-Partei³						115	0.1
	DiB						110	0.1
	BGE						107	0.1
	Die Humanisten						57	0.0
	SGP						12	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,983			1,328
Total valid votes				149,859			150,514
Turnout				151,842	74.9	3.0
	SPD hold		Majority	4,794	3.2	6.1

Federal election (2013): Bottrop – Recklinghausen III[5]
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 Michael Gerdes		66,913	45.8	3.0	58,800	40.1	3.0
	CDU	Sven Volmering		53,354	36.5	3.6	51,021	34.8	6.1
	Left	Friedrich-Wilhelm Zachraj		7,827	5.4	4.0	9,153	6.2	4.4
	AfD	Franz-Josef Ferme		5,530	3.8		6,034	4.1
	Greens	Elke Marita Stuckel-Lotz		5,277	3.6	2.1	7,998	5.5	1.5
	Pirates	Hans Peter Winkelmann		3,613	2.5		3,029	2.1	0.5
	FDP	Sebastian Steinzen		2,372	1.6	5.0	5,095	3.5	7.5
	NPD						2,208	1.5	0.3
	PRO						547	0.4
	PARTEI						495	0.3
	ÖDP	Marianne Dominas		986	0.7	0.1	465	0.3	0.0
	REP						327	0.2	0.2
	Volksabstimmung						280	0.2	0.1
	BIG						243	0.2
	FW						177	0.1
	MLPD	Petra Braun		299	0.2	0.0	142	0.1	0.0
	Nichtwahler						142	0.1
	Party of Reason						110	0.1
	RRP						79	0.1	0.1
	Die Rechte						54	0.0
	PSG						53	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						36	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,010			1,693
Total valid votes				146,171			146,488
Turnout				148,181	71.9	0.7
	SPD hold		Majority	13,559	9.3	0.6

Federal election (2009): Bottrop – Recklinghausen III[6]
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	Michael Gerdes		62,810	42.8	13.2	54,532	37.1	13.3
	CDU	Sven Volmering		48,290	32.9	1.5	42,153	28.7	0.6
	Left	Günter Blocks		13,765	9.4	4.3	15,624	10.6	4.3
	FDP	Marc Liebehenz		9,710	6.6	4.1	16,171	11.0	4.5
	Greens	Hans-Jürgen Reitmeyer		8,372	5.7	3.1	10,267	7.0	1.4
	Pirates						2,261	1.5
	NPD	Dirk Tittmann		2,391	1.6	0.6	1,738	1.2	0.4
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,052	0.7	0.0
	FAMILIE						804	0.5	0.2
	REP						643	0.4	0.0
	RENTNER						578	0.4
	ÖDP	Stefan Krix		1,138	0.8		447	0.3
	RRP						182	0.1
	MLPD	Petra Braun		243	0.2	0.0	128	0.1	0.0
	DVU						114	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						102	0.1	0.0
	Centre						74	0.1	0.0
	BüSo						34	0.0	0.0
	PSG						23	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,804			1,596
Total valid votes				146,719			146,927
Turnout				148,523	71.2	8.0
	SPD hold		Majority	14,520	9.9	14.7