Mainz is an electoral constituency (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Wahlkreis'') represented in the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

. It elects one member via

first-past-the-post voting First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...

. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituency 204. It is located in eastern

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

, comprising the city of

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

and the northern part of the

Mainz-Bingen Mainz-Bingen is a district (''Kreis'') in the east of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Rheingau-Taunus, the district-free cities Wiesbaden and Mainz, the districts Groß-Gerau, Alzey-Worms, Bad Kreuzn ...

district. Mainz was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Whilst the Christian Democratic Union won the plurality in the 2025 election, under the new voting system, their candidate did not actually win a seat in the Bundestag. This was due to the distribution of seats won by the CDU being decided by the first (direct) vote percentage of each winning CDU candidate, determining who took the seats. As the CDU candidate got a low vote of 27.3%, the seat will remain vacant throughout the 21st Bundestag.

Geography

Mainz is located in eastern

. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the independent city of Mainz as well as the municipalities of

Bingen am Rhein Bingen am Rhein () is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The settlement's original name was Bingium, a Celtic languages, Celtic word that may have meant "hole in the rock", a description of the shoal behind the ...

Budenheim Budenheim is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Unlike other municipalities in Mainz-Bingen, it does not belong to any ''Verbandsgemeinde, association of municipalities''. Geog ...

, and

Ingelheim am Rhein Ingelheim (), officially Ingelheim am Rhein (), is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany. The town sprawls along the Rhine's left bank. It has been Mainz-Bingen's district seat since 1996. From the la ...

and the ''

Verbandsgemeinden A (; plural ) is a low-level administrative unit in the German federal states of Brandenburg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt. A is typically composed of a small group of municipalities. Rhineland-Palatinate The state of Rhineland- ...

'' of

Gau-Algesheim Gau-Algesheim is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the Gau-Algesheim (Verbandsgemeinde), ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Gau-Algesheim, a kind of collective municipality. Geography Location Gau-A ...

Nieder-Olm Nieder-Olm is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Until 5 November 2006 it was an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – but it was raised to ...

, and

Rhein-Nahe Rhein-Nahe is a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") in the district Mainz-Bingen, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated along the left bank of the Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major ri ...

from the Mainz-Bingen district.

History

Mainz was created in 1949. In the 1949 election, it was Rhineland-Palatinate constituency 9 in the numbering system. In the 1953 through 1976 elections, it was number 156. In the 1980 through 1998 elections, it was number 154. In the 2002 election, it was number 208. In the 2005 election, it was number 207. In the 2009 and 2013 elections, it was number 206. In the 2017 and 2021 elections, it was number 205. From the 2025 election, it has been number 204. Originally, the constituency comprised the city of Mainz and the districts of Bingen and Landkreis Mainz excluding the ''Amtsgerichtsbezirk'' of Oppenheim. In the 1972 through 2013 elections, it acquired a configuration very similar to its current borders, but including the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of

Sprendlingen-Gensingen Sprendlingen-Gensingen is a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") in the district Mainz-Bingen, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated approximately south-east of Bingen, and south-west of Mainz. Sprendlingen is the seat of ...

. It acquired its current borders in the 2017 election.

Members

The constituency was first represented by Joseph Schmitt of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1949 to 1953, followed by Josef Schlick from 1953 to 1965. Josef Hofmann then served a single term. Hugo Brandt of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) was elected in 1969 and served until 1983. Johannes Gerster of the CDU won the constituency in 1983 and was representative until 1994. Hans-Otto Wilhelm then served a single term. Eckhart Pick of the SPD was elected in 1998 and served until 2002, when he was succeeded by Michael Hartmann.

Ute Granold Ute Granold (born March 2, 1955, in Mainz) is a German politician and member of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU). She was a member of the German Bundestag from 2002 to 2013, where she was most recently the chairwoman of the CDU/CS ...

of the CDU was representative from 2009 to 2013. Ursula Groden-Kranich was elected in 2013 and re-elected in 2017. Daniel Baldy won the constituency for the SPD in 2021. The seat became vacant as a result of the 2025 election.

Election results

2025 election

Under the new voting system implemented for the 2025 election, although the CSU candidate won the most votes in this constituency, due to the low winning percentage, the constituency seat will remain vacant as not enough second (party) votes were won to be allocated this seat.

2021 election

2017 election

2013 election

2009 election

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mainz (electoral district) Federal electoral districts in Rhineland-Palatinate 1949 establishments in West Germany Constituencies established in 1949 Mainz Mainz-Bingen