172 Lahn-Dill
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Lahn-Dill in 2013
State	Hesse
Population	275,900 (2019)
Electorate	206,532 (2021)
Major settlements	Wetzlar Dillenburg Herborn
Area	1,153.2 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	SPD
Member	Dagmar Schmidt
Elected	2021

Lahn-Dill 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 172. It is located in western Hesse, comprising the Lahn-Dill-Kreis district and a small part of the Gießen district.^[1]

Lahn-Dill was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2021, it has been represented by Dagmar Schmidt of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).^[2]

Geography

Lahn-Dill is located in western Hesse. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the Lahn-Dill-Kreis district and the municipalities of Biebertal and Wettenberg from the Gießen district.^[1]

History

Lahn-Dill was created in 1949, then known as Wetzlar. It acquired its current name in the 1980 election. In the 1949 election, it was Hesse constituency 7 in the numbering system. In the 1953 through 1976 elections, it was number 132. From 1980 through 1998, it was number 130. In 2002 and 2005, it was number 174. In the 2009 election, it was number 173. Since 2013, it has been number 172.

Originally, the constituency comprised the districts of Wetzlar and Dillkreis. In the 1980 through 1998 elections, it comprised the Lahn-Dill-Kreis district as well as, from the Gießen district, the municipalities of Biebertal and Wettenberg and the Stadtteil of Lützellinden from Gießen municipality. In the 2002 election, it lost the Stadtteil of Lützellinden.

Members

The constituency was first represented by Karl Gaul of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) from 1949 to 1953. Wilhelm Reitz of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) was elected in 1953 and served until 1969. He was succeeded by fellow SPD members Helmut Kater until 1976 and Klaus Daubertshäuser until 1983. Christian Lenzer of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) was elected in 1983, but former member Daubertshäuser regained the constituency in 1987 and served a further two terms. He was succeeded by fellow party member Erika Lotz in 1994, who served until 2002. Helga Lopez of the SPD served from 2005 to 2009, when Sibylle Pfeiffer of the CDU won the constituency. She was succeeded by Hans-Jürgen Irmer in 2017. Dagmar Schmidt regained it for the SPD in 2021.

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Lahn-Dill[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	Dagmar Schmidt		49,923	33.1	3.3	44,546	29.4	4.7
	CDU	N Hans-Jürgen Irmer		45,441	30.1	8.2	37,725	24.9	8.5
	AfD	Willi Wagner		15,816	10.5	1.2	17,513	11.6	2.1
	Greens	Caroline Krohn		13,754	9.1	3.3	16,957	11.2	4.2
	FDP	Carsten Seelmeyer		12,060	8.0	1.7	17,327	11.4	1.7
	Left	Christiane Ohnacker		4,756	3.1	1.5	5,102	3.4	3.3
	FW	Karsten Stahl		4,579	3.0	1.9	3,051	2.0	1.0
	Tierschutzpartei						2,240	1.5	0.5
	PARTEI	Niklas Hartmann		2,417	1.6	0.3	1,636	1.1	0.1
	dieBasis	Heiko Schuster		2,040	1.4		1,946	1.3
	Team Todenhöfer						720	0.5
	Bündnis C						524	0.3
	Pirates						449	0.3	0.1
	Volt						399	0.3
	NPD						382	0.3	0.3
	Independent	Manuel Haunsner		259	0.2
	Gesundheitsforschung						239	0.2
	ÖDP						238	0.2	0.1
	Humanists						119	0.1
	V-Partei3						118	0.1	0.0
	DKP						74	0.0	0.0
	Bündnis 21						39	0.0
	LKR						39	0.0
	MLPD						17	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,349			1,984
Total Valid votes				151,045			151,400
Turnout				153,384	74.3	0.0
	SPD gain from CDU		Majority	4,482	3.0

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Lahn-Dill[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	%	±%
	CDU	Hans-Jürgen Irmer		58,417	38.3	9.8	51,125	33.5	8.3
	SPD	Dagmar Schmidt		45,375	29.7	4.7	37,794	24.7	5.6
	AfD	Willi Wagner		17,874	11.7		20,931	13.7	7.9
	FDP	Carsten Seelmeyer		9,590	6.3	4.2	14,821	9.7	5.3
	Greens	Thorben Sämann		8,909	5.8	0.2	10,768	7.0	0.4
	Left	Tamina Veit		7,116	4.7	0.0	10,210	6.7	1.5
	PARTEI	Dominic Harapat		2,024	1.3		1,429	0.9	0.5
	FW	Engin Eroglu		1,789	1.2		1,564	1.0	0.2
	Tierschutzpartei						1,437	0.9
	NPD	Thomas Hantusch		773	0.5	1.5	897	0.6	1.0
	Independent	Hans-Odo Sattler		687	0.5
	Pirates						534	0.3	1.4
	DM						399	0.3
	ÖDP						361	0.2
	BGE						234	0.2
	V-Partei³						173	0.1
	DKP						53	0.0
	MLPD						40	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						31	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,448			2,201
Total Valid votes				152,554			152,801
Turnout				155,002	74.3	4.6
	CDU hold		Majority	13,042	8.6	5.0

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Lahn-Dill[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	%	±%
	CDU	Y Sibylle Pfeiffer		68,666	48.1	6.5	59,760	41.8	7.1
	SPD	Dagmar Schmidt		49,213	34.5	1.4	43,406	30.3	2.5
	Greens	Priska Hinz		8,647	6.1	1.6	10,600	7.4	1.8
	AfD						8,315	5.8
	Left	Hans-Horst Knies		6,603	4.6	2.2	7,433	5.2	3.2
	Pirates	Horst Weintraut		3,265	2.3		2,533	1.8	0.3
	FDP	Wolfgang Berns		3,033	2.1	6.8	6,323	4.4	10.1
	NPD	Thomas Hantusch		2,867	2.0	0.0	2,253	1.6	0.0
	FW						1,250	0.9
	PARTEI						566	0.4
	Independent	Andreas Rentzos		541	0.4
	REP						288	0.2	0.3
	PRO						213	0.1
	BüSo						63	0.0	0.1
	PSG						63	0.0
	MLPD						37	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				4,108			3,840
Total Valid votes				142,835			143,103
Turnout				146,943	69.7	0.1
	CDU hold		Majority	19,453	13.6	5.1

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Lahn-Dill[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	%	±%
	CDU	Sibylle Pfeiffer		60,214	41.6	1.0	50,391	34.7	0.2
	SPD	Dagmar Schmidt		47,897	33.1	9.1	40,485	27.9	9.4
	FDP	Wolfgang Berns		12,968	9.0	4.4	21,137	14.6	3.8
	Greens	Priska Hinz		11,032	7.6	3.2	13,382	9.2	1.7
	Left	Nerman Göktas		9,815	6.8	2.1	12,133	8.4	2.6
	Pirates						2,972	2.0
	NPD	Thorsten Groß		2,922	2.0	0.3	2,236	1.5	0.4
	Tierschutzpartei						1,431	1.0	0.2
	REP						741	0.5	0.4
	BüSo						147	0.1	0.0
	DVU						127	0.1
	MLPD						40	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				3,104			2,730
Total Valid votes				144,848			145,222
Turnout				147,952	69.6	6.1
	CDU gain from SPD		Majority	12,317	8.5

References