MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Henriette Reker gained 52.69 percent of the vote with all but three of the 1024 voting districts accounted for, according to the regional government portal. Reker’s competitor, Jochen Ott, received 31.98 percent of the votes.
Reker, 58, was seriously wounded in the neck on Saturday in what police suspect was a xenophobic knife attack. Four witnesses sustained injuries while attempting to stop a 44-year-old assailant from stabbing the independent mayoral candidate at a farmers market.
The regional Rheinische Post reports that Reker remains under anesthesia.
Rising anti-migrant sentiment in Germany comes amid Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since World War II, with an estimated 1.5 million newcomers expected in the country this year.
