# Hochsauerlandkreis (electoral district)

Hochsauerlandkreis 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 146. It is located in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, comprising the district of Hochsauerlandkreis.
Hochsauerlandkreis was created for the 1980 federal election. Since 2021, it has been represented by Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

## Geography

Hochsauerlandkreis is located in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia. As of the 2021 federal election, it is coterminous with the Hochsauerlandkreis district.

## History

Hochsauerlandkreis was created in 1980. In the 1980 through 1998 elections, it was constituency 119 in the numbering system. From 2002 through 2009, it was number 148. In the 2013 through 2021 elections, it was number 147. From the 2025 election, it has been number 146. Its borders have not changed since its creation.

## Members

The constituency has been held continuously by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since its creation. It was first represented by Ferdinand Tillmann from 1980 to 1994. Friedrich Merz was representative from 1994 to 2009. Patrick Sensburg was elected in 2009, and re-elected in 2013 and 2017. Former member Merz successfully sought election again in 2021 and was re-elected in 2025. In the same election Merz became Chancellor of Germany.
| Election | Member | Party | % |
| 1980 | Ferdinand Tillmann | CDU | 57.4 |
| 1983 | Ferdinand Tillmann | CDU | 62.9 |
| 1987 | Ferdinand Tillmann | CDU | 57.6 |
| 1990 | Ferdinand Tillmann | CDU | 55.4 |
| 1994 | Friedrich Merz | CDU | 54.3 |
| 1998 | Friedrich Merz | CDU | 51.4 |
| 2002 | Friedrich Merz | CDU | 53.7 |
| 2005 | Friedrich Merz | CDU | 57.7 |
| 2009 | Patrick Sensburg | CDU | 51.7 |
| 2013 | Patrick Sensburg | CDU | 56.1 |
| 2017 | Patrick Sensburg | CDU | 48.0 |
| 2021 | Friedrich Merz | CDU | 40.4 |
| 2025 | Friedrich Merz | CDU | 47.7 |

## Election results
### 2025 election

Federal election (2025): Hochsauerlandkreis :
| Notes: | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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 | Party | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% |
| | CDU | Y Friedrich Merz | Y Friedrich Merz | 78,620 | 47.7 | 7.3 | 71,615 | 43.6 | 10.2 |
| | SPD | Dirk Wiese | Dirk Wiese | 35,079 | 21.4 | 10.8 | 26,873 | 16.4 | 12.3 |
| | AfD | Bernhard Bühner | Bernhard Bühner | 26,025 | 15.9 | 9.4 | 27,390 | 16.7 | 9.3 |
| | Greens | Sandra Stein | Sandra Stein | 10,025 | 6.1 | 1.9 | 12,026 | 7.3 | 2.6 |
| | Left | Lara Kuse | Lara Kuse | 7,646 | 4.7 | 2.9 | 8,774 | 5.3 | 2.8 |
| | BSW | | | | | | 5,295 | 3.2 | |
| | FDP | Carl-Julius Cronenberg | Carl-Julius Cronenberg | 4,182 | 2.6 | 4.4 | 6,299 | 3.8 | 8.2 |
| | FW | Sebastian Vielhaber | Sebastian Vielhaber | 2,783 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 1,142 | 0.7 | 0.3 |
| | Tierschutzpartei | | | | | | 1,958 | 1.2 | 0.1 |
| | PARTEI | | | | | 1.9 | 908 | 0.6 | 0.7 |
| | Volt | | | | | | 785 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| | dieBasis | | | | | 0.9 | 336 | 0.2 | 0.7 |
| | Team Todenhöfer | | | | | | 215 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| | PdF | | | | | | 213 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| | BD | | | | | | 202 | 0.1 | |
| | Values | | | | | | 86 | 0.1 | |
| | MERA25 | | | | | | 28 | 0.0 | |
| | MLPD | | | | | | 27 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| | Pirates | | | | | | | | 0.3 |
| | Gesundheitsforschung | | | | | | | | 0.1 |
| | ÖDP | | | | | | | | 0.1 |
| | Humanists | | | | | | | | 0.1 |
| | Bündnis C | | | | | | | | 0.0 |
| | SGP | | | | | | | | 0.0 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 1,047 | | | 865 | | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 164,000 | | | 164,182 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 165,047 | 83.9 | 5.8 | | | |
| | CDU hold | CDU hold | Majority | 43,541 | 26.3 | | | | |

### 2021 election

Federal election (2021): Hochsauerlandkreis :
| Notes: | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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 | Party | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% |
| | CDU | Friedrich Merz | Friedrich Merz | 62,810 | 40.4 | 7.5 | 52,017 | 33.5 | 8.2 |
| | SPD | Dirk Wiese | Dirk Wiese | 50,056 | 32.2 | 5.3 | 44,640 | 28.7 | 5.9 |
| | Greens | Maria Tillmann | Maria Tillmann | 12,478 | 8.0 | 3.8 | 15,473 | 10.0 | 5.2 |
| | FDP | Carl-Julius Cronenberg | Carl-Julius Cronenberg | 10,806 | 7.0 | 1.5 | 18,712 | 12.0 | 2.3 |
| | AfD | Otto Strauß | Otto Strauß | 10,068 | 6.5 | 0.8 | 11,532 | 7.4 | 0.6 |
| | PARTEI | Andreas Hövelmann | Andreas Hövelmann | 2,909 | 1.9 | | 1,983 | 1.3 | 0.7 |
| | Left | Karl-Ludwig Gössling | Karl-Ludwig Gössling | 2,685 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 3,989 | 2.6 | 2.8 |
| | Tierschutzpartei | | | | | | 1,943 | 1.2 | 0.6 |
| | FW | Sebastian Vielhaber | Sebastian Vielhaber | 2,224 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 1,583 | 1.0 | 0.5 |
| | dieBasis | Klaus Selter | Klaus Selter | 1,381 | 0.9 | | 1,346 | 0.9 | |
| | Pirates | | | | | | 462 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| | Team Todenhöfer | | | | | | 380 | 0.2 | |
| | Volt | | | | | | 332 | 0.2 | |
| | LIEBE | | | | | | 186 | 0.1 | |
| | Gesundheitsforschung | | | | | | 181 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| | LfK | | | | | | 128 | 0.1 | |
| | NPD | | | | | | 122 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| | ÖDP | | | | | | 99 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| | V-Partei3 | | | | | | 87 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| | Humanists | | | | | | 80 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| | Bündnis C | | | | | | 69 | 0.0 | |
| | du. | | | | | | 52 | 0.0 | |
| | PdF | | | | | | 37 | 0.0 | |
| | LKR | | | | | | 28 | 0.0 | |
| | MLPD | | | | | | 14 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| | DKP | | | | | | 11 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| | SGP | | | | | | 8 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 1,101 | | | 1,024 | | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 155,417 | | | 155,494 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 156,518 | 78.1 | 2.1 | | | |
| | CDU hold | CDU hold | Majority | 12,754 | 8.2 | 12.8 | | | |

### 2017 election

Federal election (2017): Hochsauerlandkreis :
| Notes: | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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 | Party | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% |
| | CDU | Y Patrick Sensburg | Y Patrick Sensburg | 73,185 | 48.0 | 8.2 | 63,651 | 41.7 | 8.0 |
| | SPD | Dirk Wiese | Dirk Wiese | 41,047 | 26.9 | 3.0 | 34,865 | 22.8 | 5.2 |
| | FDP | Carl-Julius Cronenberg | Carl-Julius Cronenberg | 12,893 | 8.4 | 6.5 | 21,919 | 14.3 | 9.3 |
| | AfD | Hans-Martin Schaefer | Hans-Martin Schaefer | 11,115 | 7.3 | | 12,216 | 8.0 | 4.6 |
| | Greens | Annika Neumeister | Annika Neumeister | 6,476 | 4.2 | 0.0 | 7,198 | 4.7 | 0.1 |
| | Left | Reinhard Prange | Reinhard Prange | 6,452 | 4.2 | 0.1 | 8,183 | 5.4 | 0.7 |
| | Tierschutzpartei | | | | | | 930 | 0.6 | |
| | PARTEI | | | | | | 906 | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| | FW | Christa Hudyma | Christa Hudyma | 1,447 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 841 | 0.6 | 0.2 |
| | Pirates | | | | | | 530 | 0.3 | 1.6 |
| | NPD | | | | | | 324 | 0.2 | 0.6 |
| | AD-DEMOKRATEN | | | | | | 268 | 0.2 | |
| | Gesundheitsforschung | | | | | | 156 | 0.1 | |
| | Volksabstimmung | | | | | | 141 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| | ÖDP | | | | | | 139 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| | V-Partei³ | | | | | | 121 | 0.1 | |
| | DM | | | | | | 119 | 0.1 | |
| | BGE | | | | | | 100 | 0.1 | |
| | DiB | | | | | | 98 | 0.1 | |
| | Die Humanisten | | | | | | 47 | 0.0 | |
| | MLPD | | | | | | 47 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| | DKP | | | | | | 13 | 0.0 | |
| | SGP | | | | | | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 1,399 | | | 1,200 | | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 152,615 | | | 152,814 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 154,014 | 76.0 | 2.3 | | | |
| | CDU hold | CDU hold | Majority | 32,138 | 21.1 | 5.1 | | | |

### 2013 election

Federal election (2013): Hochsauerlandkreis :
| Notes: | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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 | Party | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% |
| | CDU | Y Patrick Sensburg | Y Patrick Sensburg | 83,952 | 56.1 | 4.4 | 74,530 | 49.7 | 7.7 |
| | SPD | Dirk Wiese | Dirk Wiese | 44,682 | 29.9 | 3.2 | 42,054 | 28.0 | 3.6 |
| | Greens | Antonius Becker | Antonius Becker | 6,308 | 4.2 | 1.1 | 7,161 | 4.8 | 1.5 |
| | Left | Beate Raberg | Beate Raberg | 6,159 | 4.1 | 2.1 | 7,055 | 4.7 | 2.0 |
| | AfD | | | | | | 5,140 | 3.4 | |
| | Pirates | | | 3,280 | 2.2 | | 2,940 | 2.0 | 0.6 |
| | FDP | Hans-Werner Ehrenberg | Hans-Werner Ehrenberg | 2,878 | 1.9 | 7.2 | 7,625 | 5.1 | 11.2 |
| | NPD | | | 1,708 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 1,269 | 0.8 | 0.0 |
| | FW | | | 637 | 0.4 | | 533 | 0.4 | |
| | PARTEI | | | | | | 359 | 0.2 | |
| | Volksabstimmung | | | | | | 319 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| | PRO | | | | | | 278 | 0.2 | |
| | ÖDP | | | | | | 173 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| | REP | | | | | | 160 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| | Nichtwahler | | | | | | 131 | 0.1 | |
| | Party of Reason | | | | | | 88 | 0.1 | |
| | RRP | | | | | | 85 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| | BIG | | | | | | 43 | 0.0 | |
| | PSG | | | | | | 39 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| | Die Rechte | | | | | | 22 | 0.0 | |
| | MLPD | | | | | | 22 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| | BüSo | | | | | | 20 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 2,123 | | | 1,681 | | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 149,604 | | | 150,046 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 151,727 | 73.7 | 1.0 | | | |
| | CDU hold | CDU hold | Majority | 39,270 | 26.2 | 1.1 | | | |

### 2009 election

Federal election (2009): Hochsauerlandkreis :
| Notes: | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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 | Party | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% |
| | CDU | Patrick Sensburg | Patrick Sensburg | 77,687 | 51.7 | 6.0 | 63,133 | 41.9 | 4.7 |
| | SPD | Karsten Rudolph | Karsten Rudolph | 40,010 | 26.6 | 7.5 | 36,741 | 24.4 | 9.2 |
| | FDP | Hans-Werner Ehrenberg | Hans-Werner Ehrenberg | 13,753 | 9.1 | 6.7 | 24,530 | 16.3 | 6.6 |
| | Left | Rüdiger Sagel | Rüdiger Sagel | 9,362 | 6.2 | 3.3 | 10,064 | 6.7 | 3.1 |
| | Greens | Heiko M. Kosow | Heiko M. Kosow | 7,966 | 5.3 | 3.3 | 9,460 | 6.3 | 2.2 |
| | Pirates | | | | | | 2,008 | 1.3 | |
| | NPD | Daniela Wegener | Daniela Wegener | 1,537 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 1,223 | 0.8 | 0.2 |
| | FAMILIE | | | | | | 910 | 0.6 | 0.1 |
| | Tierschutzpartei | | | | | | 809 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| | RENTNER | | | | | | 601 | 0.4 | |
| | REP | | | | | | 306 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| | RRP | | | | | | 206 | 0.1 | |
| | Volksabstimmung | | | | | | 146 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| | Centre | | | | | | 121 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| | ÖDP | | | | | | 112 | 0.1 | |
| | DVU | | | | | | 96 | 0.1 | |
| | PSG | | | | | | 26 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| | MLPD | | | | | | 25 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| | BüSo | | | | | | 23 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 1,927 | | | 1,702 | | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 150,315 | | | 150,540 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 152,242 | 72.7 | 6.7 | | | |
| | CDU hold | CDU hold | Majority | 37,677 | 25.1 | 1.5 | | | |