51°41′41.597″N 7°11′30.934″E / 51.69488806°N 7.19192611°E / 51.69488806; 7.19192611

121 Recklinghausen II
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Recklinghausen II in 2025
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Population	249,800 (2019)
Electorate	186,413 (2021)
Major settlements	Marl Herten Haltern am See
Area	388.9 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	SPD
Member	Brian Nickholz
Elected	2021

Recklinghausen II 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 121. It is located in the Ruhr region of North Rhine-Westphalia, comprising the northern and eastern part of the Recklinghausen district.^[1]

Recklinghausen II was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2021, it has been represented by Brian Nickholz of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).^[2]

Recklinghausen II is located in the Ruhr region of North Rhine-Westphalia. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the municipalities of Datteln, Haltern am See, Herten, Marl, and Oer-Erkenschwick from the Recklinghausen district.^[1]

Recklinghausen II was created in 1949, then known as Recklinghausen-Land. From 1980 through 1987, it was named Recklinghausen II. From 1990 through 1998, it was named Recklinghausen II – Borken I. It acquired its current name in the 2002 election. In the 1949 election, it was North Rhine-Westphalia constituency 41 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1961, it was number 100. From 1965 through 1976, it was number 99. From 1980 through 1998, it was number 92. From 2002 through 2009, it was number 123. In the 2013 through 2021 elections, it was number 122. From the 2025 election, it has been number 121.

Originally, the constituency was coterminous with the Recklinghausen district. From 1965 through 1976, it comprised the municipalities of Dorsten, Herten, Kirchhellen, Marl, and Westerholt from the Recklinghausen district. From 1980 through 1987, it comprised the municipalities of Datteln, Dorsten, Haltern am See, Marl, and Oer-Erkenschwick. In the 1990 and 1994 elections, it acquired the municipalities of Heiden and Reken from the Borken district. In the 1998 election, it also acquired Raesfeld from the Borken district. It acquired its current borders in the 2002 election.

The constituency has been held continuously by the Social Democratic Party (SPD) since 1965. It was first represented by Anton Hoppe of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1949 to 1953, followed by fellow CDU member Friedrich Wilhelm Willeke from 1953 to 1965. Günther Eckerland of the SPD was elected in 1965 and served until 1976, when he was succeeded by Ulrich Steger. He was in turn succeeded by Horst Niggemeier, who served from 1987 to 1994. Waltraud Lehn was representative from 1994 to 2009. Michael Groß was elected in 2009, and re-elected in 2013 and 2017. He was succeeded by Brian Nickholz in 2021.

Federal election (2021): Recklinghausen II[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	Brian Nickholz		51,050	37.4	3.7	48,563	35.5	3.8
	CDU	Lars Ehm		38,325	28.1	6.4	33,610	24.6	4.9
	Greens	Robin Conrad		14,836	10.9	6.2	15,627	11.4	6.3
	AfD	Bernard Keber		13,108	9.6		12,522	9.2	3.3
	FDP	Robert Heinze		11,283	8.3	1.9	13,571	9.9	0.7
	Left	Ulrike Eifler		3,881	2.8	5.6	4,084	3.0	3.6
	Tierschutzpartei						2,368	1.7	0.8
	PARTEI	Angelina Klementz		3,509	2.6		1,555	1.1	0.5
	Team Todenhöfer						1,094	0.8
	dieBasis						1,093	0.8
	FW						634	0.5	0.2
	Pirates						548	0.4	0.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						217	0.2	0.1
	LIEBE						207	0.2
	Volt						202	0.1
	The Homeland						170	0.1	0.1
	LfK						117	0.1
	V-Partei3						91	0.1	0.0
	Humanists						79	0.1	0.0
	MLPD	Sabine Leopold		215	0.2	0.9	81	0.1	0.1
	ÖDP						72	0.1	0.0
	Bündnis C						62	0.0
	du.						56	0.0
	PdF						44	0.0
	LKR						32	0.0
	DKP	Detlev Beyer-Peters		167	0.1		29	0.0	0.0
	SGP						10	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,467			1,103
Total valid votes				136,374			136,738
Turnout				137,841	73.9	0.4
	SPD hold		Majority	12,725	9.3	2.7

Federal election (2017): Recklinghausen II[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	%	±%
	SPD	Y Michael Groß		56,019	41.1	4.5	44,224	31.7	8.4
	CDU	Rita Stockhofe		46,982	34.5	2.0	41,079	29.4	5.2
	AfD						17,387	12.5	8.4
	FDP	Andres Schützendübel		13,903	10.2	8.6	14,759	10.6	7.0
	Left	Petra Willemsen		11,502	8.4	2.9	9,201	6.6	0.3
	Greens	Rita Magdalena Nowak		6,363	4.7	0.3	7,189	5.2	0.6
	Tierschutzpartei						1,234	0.9
	AD-DEMOKRATEN						1,026	0.7
	PARTEI						887	0.6	0.3
	Pirates						667	0.5	1.8
	FW						365	0.3	0.1
	The Homeland						306	0.2	1.1
	Volksabstimmung						174	0.1	0.1
	DM						167	0.1
	MLPD	Sabine Leopold		1,378	1.0	0.8	163	0.1	0.0
	Gesundheitsforschung						150	0.1
	V-Partei³						123	0.1
	BGE						111	0.1
	ÖDP						104	0.1	0.0
	DiB						97	0.1
	Die Humanisten						66	0.0
	DKP						25	0.0
	SGP						6	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				4,648			1,275
Total valid votes				136,147			139,510
Turnout				140,795	74.3	2.6
	SPD hold		Majority	9,037	6.6	2.6

Federal election (2013): Recklinghausen II[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	%	±%
	SPD	Y Michael Groß		61,748	45.7	3.1	54,378	40.1	3.3
	CDU	Rita Stockhofe		49,404	36.5	4.8	47,082	34.7	5.6
	Left	Bärbel Beuermann		7,529	5.6	4.4	8,501	6.3	4.3
	Greens	Maaike Amalie Thomas		6,733	5.0	1.2	7,860	5.8	1.6
	AfD						5,494	4.0
	Pirates	Birsen Freund		3,807	2.8		3,140	2.3	0.7
	The Homeland			2,574	1.9	0.3	1,730	1.3	0.2
	FDP	Mirjam Forszpaniak		2,122	1.6	6.1	4,813	3.5	7.4
	Independent			1,006	0.7
	PARTEI						468	0.3
	PRO						440	0.3
	Volksabstimmung						328	0.2	0.1
	FW						266	0.2
	REP						252	0.2	0.2
	Nichtwahler						184	0.1
	BIG						168	0.1
	MLPD			282	0.2	0.1	140	0.1	0.0
	ÖDP						131	0.1	0.0
	Party of Reason						128	0.1
	Die Rechte						66	0.0
	RRP						65	0.0	0.1
	PSG						61	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						29	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,221			1,702
Total valid votes				135,205			135,724
Turnout				137,426	71.8	0.2
	SPD hold		Majority	12,344	9.2	1.6

Federal election (2009): Recklinghausen II[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	%	±%
	SPD	Michael Groß		58,984	42.6	12.4	51,110	36.8	14.6
	CDU	Astrid Timmermann-Fechter		44,021	31.8	0.5	40,418	29.1	0.4
	Left	Bernd Michael Hübner		13,805	10.0	5.1	14,614	10.5	5.0
	FDP	Albrecht Moslehner		10,678	7.7	4.7	15,219	11.0	4.7
	Greens	Siegfried Schönfeld		8,603	6.2	2.5	10,299	7.4	2.0
	Pirates						2,285	1.6
	The Homeland	Jacqueline Kasper		2,269	1.6	0.6	1,554	1.1	0.3
	Tierschutzpartei						1,010	0.7	0.3
	FAMILIE						694	0.5	0.2
	REP						483	0.3	0.0
	RENTNER						467	0.3
	RRP						211	0.2
	DVU						135	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						134	0.1	0.0
	MLPD	Paul Schlesinger		191	0.1	0.0	96	0.1	0.0
	ÖDP						83	0.1
	Centre						64	0.0	0.0
	PSG						29	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						28	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,810			1,428
Total valid votes				138,551			138,933
Turnout				140,361	72.0	6.6
	SPD hold		Majority	14,963	10.8	11.9