Editing Mannheim (section)

===Mayor===

[[File:Christian Specht 2.jpg|thumb|Christian Specht in 2011]]

The mayor is the head of the city council and chairman of the council, being selected by direct suffrage for a term of eight years. The current mayor is {{interlanguage link|Christian Specht|de|Christian Specht (Politiker)}} from the [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|Christian Democratic Union]] (CDU). 

In 2023, Specht ran in the election for mayor of Mannheim, in which incumbent [[Peter Kurz]] ([[Social Democratic Party of Germany|SPD]]) did not run again, and was supported by the CDU Mannheim, the {{interlanguage link|Mannheimer Liste|de}} and the [[Free Democratic Party (Germany)|FDP]] Mannheim.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2023-07-12|author=Timo Schmidhuber|date=2023-01-23|title=CDU-Politiker Christian Specht tritt bei OB-Wahl in Mannheim an|url=https://www.mannheimer-morgen.de/orte/mannheim_artikel,-mannheim-cdu-politiker-christian-specht-tritt-bei-ob-wahl-in-mannheim-an-_arid,2041987.html|website=[[Mannheimer Morgen|mannheimer-morgen.de]]}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref>{{cite web|access-date=2023-01-20|author=Timo Schmidhuber|date=2023-01-20|publisher=[[Mannheimer Morgen]]|title=OB-Kandidat Specht: "Mannheim ist für mich eine Herzensangelegenheit"|url=https://www.mannheimer-morgen.de/orte/mannheim_artikel,-mannheim-ob-kandidat-specht-mannheim-ist-fuer-mich-eine-herzensangelegenheit-_arid,2041993.html}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> In the first round of voting on June 18, 2023, he received 45.64% of the vote. On July 9, 2023, he won the second round of voting with 49.9% of the vote, ahead of SPD candidate Thorsten Riehle (48.7%) and independent candidate Uğur Çakir (1.3%).<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2023-07-12|date=2023-07-09|title=Christian Specht neuer Oberbürgermeister|url=https://www.mannheim.de/de/nachrichten/christian-specht-neuer-oberbuergermeister|website=mannheim.de}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> 
Due to an objection to the election results, Specht was initially elected as appointed mayor by the city council.<ref name="Amtsantritt 2023">{{cite web|access-date=2023-08-04|date=2023-08-03|language=de|title=Christian Specht zum bestellten Oberbürgermeister gewählt {{!}} Mannheim.de|url=https://www.mannheim.de/de/nachrichten/christian-specht-zum-bestellten-oberbuergermeister-gewaehlt}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> The objection was rejected by the {{interlanguage link|Karlsruhe Regional Council|de|Regierungspräsidium Karlsruhe}} on August 2, 2023, making Specht's election valid.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2023-08-13|date=2023-08-03|language=de|title=Einsprüche zurückgewiesen: Was das für Christian Specht bedeutet|url=https://www.mannheimer-morgen.de/orte/mannheim_artikel,-mannheim-einsprueche-zurueckgewiesen-was-das-fuer-christian-specht-bedeutet-_arid,2111918.html}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> He took office on August 4, 2023,<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2023-07-10|author=Holger Neumann|date=2023-07-10|publisher=swr.de|title=Amtsantritt am 4. August: Mannheims neuer OB Specht setzt auf "Koalition der Willigen"|url=https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/baden-wuerttemberg/mannheim/interview-ob-wahl-mannheim-sieger-christian-specht-100.html|website=[[SWR4]] BW Regional}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> making him the first CDU mayor in Mannheim since [[:de:Josef Braun|Josef Braun]] (1945–1948).<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2023-07-12|author=Peter Kiefer|date=2023-06-22|title=OB-Wahl in Mannheim – dieses Ergebnis gab es in der Quadratestadt noch nie zuvor|url=https://www.mannheim24.de/mannheim/rathaus-endergebnis-ob-wahl-mannheim-ergebnis-premiere-cdu-kandidat-christian-specht-mitte-92352372.html|website=mannheim24.de}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>

{{election table}}
! rowspan=2 colspan=2| Candidate
! rowspan=2| Party
! colspan=2| First round
! colspan=2| Second round
|-
! Votes
! %
! Votes
! %
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}| 
| align=left| '''Christian Specht'''
| align=left| [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|Christian Democratic Union]]
| 34,329
| 45.6
| '''35,981'''
| '''49.9'''
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Social Democratic Party of Germany}}| 
| align=left| Thorsten Riehle
| align=left| [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]]
| 22,748
| 30.2
| 35,122
| 48.7
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Alliance 90/The Greens}}| 
| align=left| Raymond Fojkar
| align=left| [[Alliance 90/The Greens]]
| 10,379
| 13.8
| align=center colspan=2| ''Withdrew''
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Die PARTEI}}| 
| align=left| Thomas Bischoff
| align=left| [[Die PARTEI]]
| 2,327
| 3.3
| align=center colspan=2| ''Withdrew''
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Independent politician}}| 
| align=left| David Frey
| align=left| [[Independent politician|Independent]]
| 1,081
| 1.4
| align=center colspan=2| ''Withdrew''
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Independent politician}}| 
| align=left| Tanja Krone
| align=left| [[Independent politician|Independent]]
| 903
| 1.2
| align=center colspan=2| ''Withdrew''
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Independent politician}}| 
| align=left| Uğur Çakir
| align=left| [[Independent politician|Independent]]
| 638
| 0.85
| 947
| 1.3
|-
| colspan=3 align=left| ''Others''
| 41
| 0.1
| 70
| 0.1
|-
! colspan=3| Valid votes
! 75,222
! 99.4
! 72,120
! 99.4
|-
! colspan=3| Invalid votes
! 467
! 0.6
! 415
! 0.6
|-
! colspan=3| Total
! 75,689
! 100.0
! 72,535
! 100.0
|-
! colspan=3| Electorate/voter turnout
! 234,942
! 32.2
! 234,861
! 30.9
|-
| colspan=7| Source: [https://wahlergebnisse.komm.one/lb/produktion/wahltermin-20230618/08222000/praesentation/index.html City of Mannheim]
|}

The city leaders since 1810 are:
{{div col|colwidth=21em}}
* 1810–1820: Johann Wilhelm Reinhardt
* 1820–1832: Valentin Möhl
* 1833–1835: Heinrich Andriano
* 1836–1849: Ludwig Jolly
* 1849–1852: Friedrich Reiß
* 1852–1861: Heinrich Christian Diffené
* 1861–1870: Ludwig Achenbach
* 1870–1891: Eduard Moll
* 1891–1908: Otto Beck
* 1908–1913: Paul Martin
* 1914–1928: Theodor Kutzer
* 1928–1933: Hermann Heimerich (SPD)
* 1933–1945: Carl Renninger ([[NSDAP]])
* 1945–1948: Josef Braun (CDU)
* 1948–1949: Fritz Cahn-Garnier (SPD)
* 1949–1955: Hermann Heimerich (SPD)
* 1956–1972: Hans Reschke (independent)
* 1972–1980: Ludwig Ratzel (SPD)
* 1980–1983: Wilhelm Varnholt (SPD)
* 1983–2007: Gerhard Widder (SPD)
* 2007–2023: Peter Kurz (SPD)
* 2023–present: Christian Specht (CDU)
{{div col end}}