185 Offenbach
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Offenbach in 2013
State	Hesse
Population	367,100 (2019)
Electorate	219,511 (2021)
Major settlements	Offenbach am Main Dreieich Langen
Area	241.4 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	CDU
Member	Björn Simon
Elected	2017, 2021

Offenbach 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 185. It is located in southern Hesse, comprising the city of Offenbach am Main and the western part of the Landkreis Offenbach district.^[1]

Offenbach was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2017, it has been represented by Björn Simon of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).^[2]

Geography

Offenbach is located in southern Hesse. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the independent city of Offenbach am Main and the municipalities of Dietzenbach, Dreieich, Egelsbach, Heusenstamm, Langen (Hessen), Mühlheim am Main, Neu-Isenburg, and Obertshausen from the Landkreis Offenbach district.^[1]

History

Offenbach was created in 1949, then known as Offenbach/M. It acquired its current name in the 1965 election. In the 1949 election, it was Hesse constituency 19 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1976, it was number 144. From 1980 through 1998, it was number 142. In the 2002 and 2005 elections, it was number 186. Since the 2009 election, it has been number 185.

Originally, the constituency comprised the independent city of Offenbach am Main and the Landkreis Offenbach district. In the 1965 through 1972 elections, it comprised the city of Offenbach am Main and the entirety of the Landkreis Offenbach district excluding the municipalities of Dietzenbach, Dreieichenhain, Dudenhofen, Froschhausen, Götzenhain, Hainhausen, Hainstadt, Jügesheim, Klein-Auheim, Klein-Krotzenburg, Klein-Welzheim, Mainflingen, Offenthal, Rembrücken, Seligenstadt, Steinheim am Main, Weiskirchen, and Zellhausen. In the 1976 through 1998 elections, it acquired a configuration very similar to its current borders, but excluding the municipality of Dietzenbach from the Landkreis Offenbach district. It acquired its current borders in the 2002 election.

Members

The constituency was first represented by Harald Koch of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from 1949 to 1953, followed by Wilhelm Banse of the SPD from 1953 to 1957. Karl Kanka won it for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in 1957. Horst Schmidt regained it for the SPD in 1961 and served three terms. Manfred Coppik succeeded him in 1972 and was representative until 1983. Klaus Lippold of the CDU then served from 1983 to 1998. Uta Zapf of the SPD was elected in 1998 and held the constituency for two terms, before former member Lippold regained it in 2005. He was succeeded by fellow CDU member Peter Wichtel in 2009, who served until 2017. Björn Simon was elected in 2017 and re-elected in 2021.

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Offenbach[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	%	±%
	CDU	Y Björn Simon		43,347	27.8	8.5	35,754	22.9	7.6
	SPD	Tuna Firat		41,035	26.4	1.4	38,799	24.9	3.5
	Greens	Wolfgang Strengmann-Kuhn		26,229	16.8	8.0	27,062	17.4	7.2
	FDP	Ernestos Varvaroussis		14,828	9.5	1.8	20,625	13.2	0.6
	AfD	Christin Thüne		11,851	7.6	3.6	12,098	7.8	4.0
	Left	Christine Buchholz		7,497	3.8	2.9	7,787	5.0	3.8
	Team Todenhöfer						2,429	1.6
	FW	Dennis Lehmann		3,733	2.4	0.5	2,336	1.5	0.7
	Tierschutzpartei						2,242	1.4	0.4
	dieBasis	Stefan Billing		2,481	1.6		2,178	1.4
	PARTEI	Stephanie Birkle		2,029	1.3		1,380	0.9	0.1
	Volt	Felix Kautz		1,534	1.0		1,178	0.8
	Pirates	Gregory Engels		1,157	0.7	0.2	849	0.5	0.0
	Gesundheitsforschung						225	0.1
	V-Partei3						183	0.1	0.1
	Humanists						163	0.1
	ÖDP						128	0.1	0.1
	NPD						127	0.1	0.2
	Bündnis C						96	0.1
	DKP						64	0.0	0.0
	Bündnis 21						47	0.0
	LKR						38	0.0
	MLPD						26	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,331			2,238
Total Valid votes				155,721			155,814
Turnout				158,052	72.0	2.3
	CDU hold		Majority	2,312	1.4	9.9

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Offenbach[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	Björn Simon		58,565	36.4	9.1	49,302	30.6	8.3
	SPD	Tuna Firat		40,106	24.9	6.3	34,519	21.4	4.7
	AfD	Arno Groß		18,047	11.2		19,050	11.8	6.0
	Greens	Wolfgang Strengmann-Kuhn		14,246	8.8	0.7	16,421	10.2	0.5
	Left	Christine Buchholz		12,435	7.7	1.6	14,261	8.8	2.2
	FDP	Karl-Richard Krüger		12,420	7.7	4.9	20,372	12.6	6.3
	Tierschutzpartei						1,642	1.0
	PARTEI						1,564	1.0	0.4
	FW	Jürgen Ries		3,056	1.9	0.0	1,363	0.8	0.1
	Pirates	Gregory Engels		1,586	1.0	1.5	945	0.6	1.8
	NPD						429	0.3	0.8
	BGE						354	0.2
	DM						322	0.2
	V-Partei³						294	0.2
	ÖDP						285	0.2
	MLPD						77	0.0	0.0
	DKP						56	0.0
	BüSo						38	0.0	0.0
	VIOLETTEN	Jochem-Frank Kalmbacher		522	0.3
Informal votes				2,597			2,286
Total Valid votes				160,983			161,294
Turnout				163,580	74.3	2.9
	CDU hold		Majority	18,459	11.5	2.8

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Offenbach[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 Peter Wichtel		69,930	45.5	5.3	59,905	38.8	7.0
	SPD	Dirk Gene Hagelstein		47,984	31.2	2.5	40,203	26.1	3.8
	Greens	Wolfgang Strengmann-Kuhn		12,548	8.2	1.7	16,503	10.7	2.1
	Left	Christine Buchholz		9,479	6.2	1.3	10,205	6.6	2.3
	AfD						8,994	5.8
	FDP	Paul-Gerhard Weiß		4,376	2.8	7.4	9,836	6.4	12.0
	Pirates	Vecih Yasaner		3,780	2.5		3,627	2.4	0.1
	NPD	Frank Marschner		2,538	1.7	0.1	1,663	1.1	0.1
	FW	Jürgen Ries		2,968	1.9		1,461	0.9
	PARTEI						839	0.5
	REP						626	0.4	0.3
	PRO						224	0.1
	PSG						75	0.0
	BüSo						49	0.0	0.1
	MLPD						40	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				4,637			3,990
Total Valid votes				153,603			154,250
Turnout				158,240	71.4	0.4
	CDU hold		Majority	21,946	14.3	2.9

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Offenbach[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	Peter Wichtel		62,281	40.2	3.5	49,267	31.9	4.2
	SPD	Uta Zapf		44,542	28.8	11.2	34,376	22.2	9.8
	FDP	Vera Langer		15,843	10.2	5.4	28,409	18.4	5.8
	Greens	Klaus-Uwe Gerhardt		15,243	9.8	4.2	19,863	12.8	2.0
	Left	Christine Buchholz		11,594	7.5	3.2	13,813	8.9	3.8
	Pirates						3,835	2.5
	Tierschutzpartei	Daniela Rinkenberger		2,722	1.8		1,858	1.2	0.4
	NPD	Frank Marschner		2,434	1.6	0.0	1,766	1.1	0.0
	REP						1,068	0.7	0.1
	Independent	Ahmet Kansiz		229	0.1
	BüSo						198	0.1	0.1
	DVU						150	0.1
	MLPD						41	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				3,969			4,213
Total Valid votes				154,888			154,644
Turnout				158,857	71.8	5.4
	CDU hold		Majority	17,739	11.4	7.7

References