1999 Hessian state election (original) (raw)

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1999 Hesse state election

1995 7 February 1999 2003
All 110 seats of the Landtag of Hesse56 seats needed for a majority
Turnout 2,800,371 (66.4%)Increase 0.1%
First party Second party Leader Roland Koch Hans Eichel Party CDU SPD Last election 45 seats, 39.2% 44 seats, 38.0% Seats won 50 46 Seat change Increase 5 Increase 2 Popular vote 1,215,783 1,102,544 Percentage 43.4% 39.4% Swing Increase 4.2% Increase 1.4% Third party Fourth party Leader Evelin Schönhut-KeilTarek Al-Wazir Ruth Wagner Party Greens FDP Last election 13 seats, 11.2% 8 seats, 7.4% Seats won 8 6 Seat change Decrease 5 Decrease 2 Popular vote 201,194 142,845 Percentage 7.2% 5.1% Swing Decrease 4.0% Decrease 2.3%
Results for the single-member constituencies.
Minister-President before election Hans Eichel SPD Elected Minister-President Roland Koch CDU

The 1999 Hessian state election was held on 7 February 1999 to elect the members of the 15th Landtag of Hesse. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens led by Minister-President Hans Eichel.

The government was unexpectedly defeated, with the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) winning a comfortable plurality and forming a one-seat majority coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FDP). This was despite prior opinion polling indicating the SPD and Greens would be re-elected comfortably and increase their majority. CDU leader Roland Koch was elected Minister-President by the Landtag in early April.

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Hesse.

Name Ideology Leader(s) 1995 result
Votes (%) Seats
CDU Christian Democratic Union of GermanyChristlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands Christian democracy Roland Koch 39.2%
SPD Social Democratic Party of GermanySozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands Social democracy Hans Eichel 38.0%
Grüne Alliance 90/The GreensBündnis 90/Die Grünen Green politics Priska HinzRupert von Plottnitz 11.2%
FDP Free Democratic PartyFreie Demokratische Partei Classical liberalism Ruth Wagner 7.4%
Polling firm Fieldwork date Samplesize CDU SPD Grüne FDP Others Lead
1999 state election 7 February 1999 43.4 39.4 7.2 5.1 4.9 4.0
Polis 30 Jan 1999 1,016 36 41 10 8 5 5
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 25–28 Jan 1999 1,025 39 42 8.5 5.5 5 3
Infratest dimap 18–24 Jan 1999 1,000 37.5 42 10 7 3.5 4.5
Forsa 20 Jan 1999 ? 36 40 11 7 6 4
Forsa 14 Jan 1999 ? 37 38 12 7 6 1
Infratest dimap 4–10 Jan 1999 1,000 39 42 9 6 4 3
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 30 Nov–3 Dec 1998 1,011 37 45 9 4 5 8
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 2–5 Nov 1998 1,021 38 43 10 4 5 5
1995 state election 19 February 1995 39.2 38.0 11.2 7.4 4.3 1.2

During the campaign, the CDU collected signatures opposing the federal government's plan to relax Germany's high standards for dual citizenship, which drew accusations of xenophobia.[1]

Party Constituency Party list Totalseats +/-
Votes % Seats Votes % +/- Seats
Christian Democratic Union 1,265,942 45.34 34 1,215,783 43.42 +4.26 16 50
Social Democratic Party 1,158,663 41.50 21 1,102,544 39.37 +1.40 25 46
Alliance 90/The Greens 168,325 6.03 0 201,194 7.18 -4.01 8 8
Free Democratic Party 98,095 3.51 0 142,845 5.10 -2.35 6 6
The Republicans 79,273 2.84 0 75,114 2.68 +0.70 0 0
Human Environment Animal Protection Party 2,056 0.07 0 12,856 0.46 New 0 0
League of Free Citizens 8,760 0.31 0 10,811 0.39 +0.08 0 0
Free Voters 405 0.01 0 10,057 0.36 New 0 0
Feminist Party of Germany 1,745 0.06 0 6,691 0.24 New 0 0
National Democratic Party 2,231 0.08 0 5,933 0.21 -0.07 0 0
Party of Bible-abiding Christians 2,164 0.08 0 4,999 0.18 -0.06 0 0
German Communist Party 1,181 0.04 0 3,881 0.14 +0.02 0 0
Natural Law Party 1,515 0.05 0 2,499 0.09 -0.07 0 0
Ecological Democratic Party 138 0.00 0 2,053 0.07 -0.12 0 0
Party of Willing Workers and Disadvantaged 95 0.00 0 1,909 0.07 New 0 0
Civil Rights Movement Soliarity 627 0.02 0 612 0.02 0.00 0 0
German Homeland Party 91 0.00 0 591 0.02 -0.01 0 0
Independents 540 0.02 0 0 Steady 0
Total 2,791,846 100.00 55 2,800,372 100.00 55 110 Steady 0
Invalid 53,740 1.89 45,214 1.59
Turnout 2,845,586 66.45 2,845,586 66.45 +0.18
Registered voters 4,282,397 4,282,397
  1. ^ staatsbuergerschaft Rhein Zeitung online, 5 January 1999