Heike Gebhard has been a member of the SPD since 1972. In 1974, she was deputy chair of the Young Socialists (
Jusos) in the Gelsenkirchen subdistrict of the SPD. From 1977 to 1980, she chaired the state association of the Young Socialists in North Rhine-Westphalia. She was a member of the executive committee of the Gelsenkirchen SPD subdistrict from 1975 to 1985, from 1992 to 1994, and again since 1996. From 2006 to 2010, Heike Gebhard was deputy chair of the Gelsenkirchen SPD. She has been chair of the Working Group of Social Democratic Women (
ASF) in Gelsenkirchen since 2006, chair of the Western Westphalia region since 2007, and a member of the AsF's state executive committee in North Rhine-Westphalia since 2006. On 13 March 2010, she was elected chair of the Gelsenkirchen SPD with 94.9% of the vote. Heike Gebhard volunteers on the supervisory board of the Catholic Clinics Emscher Lippe (KKEL) and is a member of the sub-district board of the (AWO) Gelsenkirchen/Bottrop. She is also a member of the
ver.di trade union. In 2025, the SPD Gelsenkirchen awarded Gebhard the Willy Brandt Medal. == Mandate ==