1991 Rhineland-Palatinate state election

The 1991 Rhineland-Palatinate state election was held on 21 April 1991 to elect the members of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate. The incumbent coalition government of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Carl-Ludwig Wagner was defeated, losing its majority. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) moved into first place, forming a coalition with the FDP. SPD leader Rudolf Scharping was subsequently elected as Minister-President.

1991 Rhineland-Palatinate state election

21 April 1991
All 101 seats of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate 51 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	2,125,407 (73.9%) 3.1%
First party Second party   Leader Rudolf Scharping Carl-Ludwig Wagner Party SPD CDU Last election 40 seats, 38.8% 48 seats, 45.1% Seats won 47 40 Seat change 7 8 Popular vote 951,695 822,449 Percentage 44.8% 38.7% Swing 6.0% 6.4%   Third party Fourth party   Party FDP Greens Last election 7 seats, 7.3% 5 seats, 5.9% Seats won 7 7 Seat change 0 2 Popular vote 146,400 137,139 Percentage 6.9% 6.5% Swing 0.4% 0.6%
Results for the single-member constituencies
Minister-President before election Carl-Ludwig Wagner CDU Elected Minister-President Rudolf Scharping SPD

This election marked several changes in the state history:

First, a change in the state election system. Previous elections were held purely proportionally, however, from that election on, the elections were held more in line with the federal mixed-member proportional representation, with both direct constituencies and proportional representation.

Secondly, from 1991 on, the Landtag became elected for five years instead of the previous four.

Thirdly, the election marked a shift in the state's political alignment: for 44 years (1947-1991) the state had been governed by CDU, with CDU coming first in every election As of 2023, the state has been continuously governed by SPD since the election.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	1987 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Carl-Ludwig Wagner	45.1%	48 / 101
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Rudolf Scharping	38.8%	40 / 101
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism		7.3%	7 / 101
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics		5.9%	5 / 101

Election result

Summary of the 21 April 1991 election results for the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate

Party		Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-	Seats %
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	951,695	44.8	6.0	47	7	46.5
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	822,449	38.7	6.4	40	8	39.6
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	146,400	6.9	0.4	7	0	6.9
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	137,139	6.5	0.6	7	2	6.9
	The Republicans (REP)	43,380	2.0	2.0	0	±0	0
	Others	24,244	1.1		0	±0	0
Total		2,125,407	100.0		101	1
Voter turnout			73.9	3.1

Popular Vote SPD   44.78% CDU   38.70% FDP   6.89% B'90/GRÜNE   6.45% REP   2.05% Other   1.14%

Landtag seats SPD   46.53% CDU   39.60% FDP   6.93% B'90/GRÜNE   6.93%