1999 Hessian state election

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.

1999 Hesse state election

7 February 1999
All 110 seats of the Landtag of Hesse 56 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	2,800,371 (66.4%) 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 5 2 Popular vote 1,215,783 1,102,544 Percentage 43.4% 39.4% Swing 4.2% 1.4%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Evelin Schönhut-Keil Tarek Al-Wazir Ruth Wagner Party Greens FDP Last election 13 seats, 11.2% 8 seats, 7.4% Seats won 8 6 Seat change 5 2 Popular vote 201,194 142,845 Percentage 7.2% 5.1% Swing 4.0% 2.3%
Results for the single-member constituencies.
Minister-President before election Hans Eichel SPD Elected Minister-President Roland Koch CDU

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.

Parties

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 Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Roland Koch	39.2%	45 / 110
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Hans Eichel	38.0%	44 / 110
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics	Priska Hinz Rupert von Plottnitz	11.2%	13 / 110
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	Ruth Wagner	7.4%	8 / 110

Opinion polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	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

Campaign

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.

Election result

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

Sources

• The Federal Returning Officer