Career in local politics

From 1990 to 2003, Brehmer was a member of the Aschersleben-Staßfurt district council, which she chaired between 1999 and 2003. On 27 April 2003, she was elected in the run-off election 61.4% as the successor of Thomas Leimbach district administrator of the district of Aschersleben-Staßfurt. On 22 April 2007, Heike Brehmer joined as CDU candidate for the district council post of the new Salzlandkreis district. In the run-off election on 6 May 2007, she lost against the candidate of the SPD, Ulrich Gerstner.

Member of Parliament, 2009–present

In June 2009, Brehmer was nominated by the CDU as the direct candidate for the constituency of Harz (constituency 69). In the 2009 federal election, she was able to move as directly elected representative for the first time in the German Bundestag, receiving 33% of the first votes.^[2] In 2013 federal election she was re-elected with 46%, in 2017 federal election with 36.4%.

In parliament, Brehmer has served on the Committee on Labor and Social Affairs (2009–2013), the Committee on Tourism (2014–2017, since 2021), and the Committee on Petitions (2018–2021). She chaired the Committee on Tourism (2014–2017) and the Committee on Petitions (2018–2021).^[1] In 2014, she joined the parliament's Council of Elders, which – among other duties – determines daily legislative agenda items and assigning committee chairpersons based on party representation.^[1]

Within her parliamentary group, Brehmer has been the deputy chairman of the workers' group^[3] and led the group of CDU parliamentarians from Saxony-Anhalt from 2013 until 2021.^[4]

Since 2009, Brehmer has been a member of the Federal Council of the CDU Association for Municipal Policies (Kommunalpolitische Vereinigung, KPV),^[1] since 2010 also deputy chairman of the CDU Saxony-Anhalt under the leadership of chairman Holger Stahlknecht.