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CDU leader Laschet with candidates in the local election campaign in Castrop-Rauxel in early August
Photo: Bernd Thissen / DPA
There is, for example, the mayor election in Dortmund.
No, Armin Laschet does not run himself, he is already Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia.
But if his party friend Andreas Hollstein on the eastern edge of the Ruhr area actually succeeds in conquering the town hall there from the SPD, which has ruled for decades, the CDU regional chief will also consider it a success.
20,000 municipal mandates in the most populous German state are up for election on Sunday.
Since people aged 16 and over and EU citizens are entitled to vote in North Rhine-Westphalia, the number of those entitled to vote is over 14 million.
Elections are made in 31 districts, 24 independent cities and 396 municipalities.
But there is more to this election: the first mood test at the ballot box since the outbreak of the corona crisis.
And about Prime Minister Laschet's further political perspective.
Of course, local elections are less dominated by party politics than state or federal elections.
The general political weather situation in the republic also plays a rather subordinate role.
Most of the time, local issues dominate the election campaign, mainly about the people who apply for mandates in the municipal parliaments, as district administrators or mayors.
Sometimes parties agree on common candidates, such as the CDU and the Greens in Cologne, where they jointly support the non-party mayor Henriette Reker.
In a second ballot, which is often necessary because nobody received more than 50 percent of the vote on the first attempt, several parties usually gather behind an applicant.
These runoff elections are scheduled for September 27th where necessary.
Armin Laschet is not on any ballot paper himself.
Nevertheless, the result of his Christian Democrats could give him a tailwind on the way to the CDU presidency and the candidacy for chancellor.
Or the opposite.
If things go well, election Sunday could create a little euphoria - Laschet's application for the successor to party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer is noticeably lacking so far.
If things go bad, that would be a major setback for Laschet's ambitions.
After all, Laschet can claim that he has already won an election - in contrast to his CDU competitors Friedrich Merz and Norbert Röttgen.
That was in 2017, when Laschet surprisingly knocked the SPD Prime Minister Hannelore Kraft out of office.
But that means that the CDU also has to deliver in the local elections.
And of course Merz and Röttgen, both from North Rhine-Westphalia, take a very close look at how things turn out.
The CDU result of 2014 is considered utopian
The 37.5 percent from last time are considered somewhat utopian.
When the local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia took place in 2014, the Union was nationwide in surveys over 40 percent, the red-green state government, however, was in low mood.
However, the current CDU-FDP coalition is not particularly popular with voters, as a recent infratest dimap survey on behalf of the WDR shows.
56 percent of the people in North Rhine-Westphalia are "rather satisfied" with the state government, a decrease of six percentage points compared to the last survey in June.
52 percent are satisfied with Prime Minister Laschet.
That is an increase of six percentage points compared to June - however, prime ministers of other federal states arrive at significantly higher values.
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Laschet and his competitor in the race for the CDU chairmanship, Norbert Röttgen (early September in Königswinter)
Photo: Oliver Berg / dpa
But: Laschet has stabilized.
At the beginning of the corona crisis, he initially had to struggle in North Rhine-Westphalia, his survey values crashed between April and June, especially compared to the research Markus Söder in Bavaria, he often seemed hesitant and insecure.
Most recently, the prime minister took a stricter line that seems to be more popular with the people of the country.
That could also help the CDU in the local elections.
"We would be satisfied if we could get close to our 2014 result," says Bodo Löttgen, CDU parliamentary group leader in the Düsseldorf state parliament.
In the WDR poll, his party comes to 34 percent.
According to the survey, the Greens are in second place with 22 percent, one point ahead of the SPD.
"The mood in the NRW CDU is still good," says Löttgen.
What else can he say?
The election campaign is virtually canceled due to Corona
One problem: none of the parties can advertise for votes as usual.
The Christian Democrats also have to do without the usual election campaign due to Corona.
There is no beer and sausage this time, and there are certainly no major rallies.
Country chief Laschet appeared on some marketplaces on a smaller scale, an event is planned in Cologne at the end of the election campaign.
It is already becoming apparent that the percentage of postal voters due to Corona will be significantly higher than in 2014. The CDU also hopes to benefit from this.
But if things turn out differently, if the CDU stays well below expectations, then that will go home with Laschet.
Then he will find it difficult to say: local elections have their own laws.
And then doubts about Laschet will grow louder again, about his crisis management, about his winning mentality.
So winning is a must for Laschet.
"Of course, people look when there is voting in the most populous federal state," said the CDU state chief in an interview with the "Kölner Stadtanzeiger".
And "of course I am happy if there is a tailwind for politics in the state and federal government from here".
The only question is for whom.
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