2009 Hessian state election

The 2009 Hessian state election was held on 18 January 2009 to elect the members of the Landtag of Hesse. The election was called after the failure of all government formation attempts conducted after the 2008 state election held a year earlier. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) suffered major losses, falling from an effective tie with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to a 13.5-point deficit. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) and The Greens were the primary beneficiaries of the SPD's decline. After the election, the CDU formed a coalition government with the FDP, and Roland Koch was elected Minister-President.

2009 Hesse state election
18 January 2009
All 118 seats of the Landtag of Hesse
60 seats needed for a majority
Turnout2,591,872 (61.0%)
Decrease 3.3%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Roland Koch Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel Jörg-Uwe Hahn
Party CDU SPD FDP
Last election 42 seats, 36.8% 42 seats, 36.7% 11 seats, 9.4%
Seats won 46 29 20
Seat change Increase 4 Decrease 13 Increase 9
Popular vote 963,763 614,648 420,426
Percentage 37.2% 23.7% 16.2%
Swing Increase 0.4% Decrease 13.0% Increase 6.8%
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Tarek Al-Wazir Willi van Ooyen
Party Greens Left
Last election 9 seats, 7.5% 6 seats, 5.1%
Seats won 17 6
Seat change Increase 8 Steady 0
Popular vote 356,040 139,074
Percentage 13.7% 5.4%
Swing Increase 6.2% Increase 0.3%
Results for the single-member constituencies.
Minister-President before election

Roland Koch
CDU

 Elected Minister-President

Roland Koch
CDU

Background

The result of the 2008 Hessian state election was inconclusive, as neither the CDU–FDP or SPD–Green blocs had won a majority. This was due to the entry of The Left into the Landtag, with which the SPD was unwilling to cooperate, though both The Left and Greens supported a red-red-green coalition between the three parties. While a grand coalition between the CDU and SPD would command a comfortable majority, this option was very unpopular and was rejected by the SPD.[1]

In October 2008, SPD leader Andrea Ypsilanti attempted to negotiate a red-red-green coalition, reneging on a pledge made earlier in the year not to do so.[2] This caused an revolt within the Hessian SPD, resulting in Ypsilanti being deposed and the new leadership under Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel seeking fresh elections.[3]

CDU leader Roland Koch had served as Minister-President prior to the 2008 election, and continued in office in a caretaker capacity between the 2008 and 2009 elections. He could not be unseated due to the inability of the SPD to form a new government; in Hesse, the motion to remove a serving government simultaneously invests confidence in a proposed new government, and requires an absolute majority to pass.

Parties

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

Name Ideology Leader(s) 2008 result
Votes (%) Seats
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands		 Christian democracy Roland Koch 36.8%
42 / 110
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands		 Social democracy Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel 36.7%
42 / 110
FDP Free Democratic Party
Freie Demokratische Partei		 Classical liberalism Jörg-Uwe Hahn 9.4%
11 / 110
Grüne Alliance 90/The Greens
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen		 Green politics Tarek Al-Wazir 7.5%
9 / 110
Linke The Left
Die Linke		 Democratic socialism Willi van Ooyen 5.1%
6 / 110

Opinion polling
Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size		 CDU SPD FDP Grüne Linke Others Lead
2009 state election 18 January 2009 – 37.2 23.7 16.2 13.7 5.4 3.8 13.5
Forsa 6–9 Jan 2009 1,007 41 24 15 13 4 3 17
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 6–8 Jan 2009 1,072 41 25 13 13 5 3 16
Infratest dimap 5–7 Jan 2009 1,000 42 24 13 13 5 3 18
GMS 15–17 Dec 2008 1,004 41 25 13 13 5 3 16
Forsa 8–12 Dec 2008 1,005 42 23 13 12 6 4 19
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 1–4 Dec 2008 1,145 41 26 12 12 5 4 15
Emnid 28 Nov–3 Dec 2008 500 43 24 13 11 5 4 19
Infratest dimap 28 Nov–2 Dec 2008 1,000 41 23 13 14 6 3 18
Infratest dimap 4–5 Nov 2008 1,000 41 27 11 12 5 4 14
Infratest dimap 1–3 Sep 2008 1,000 39 28 12 11 7 3 11
Forsa 19–22 Aug 2008 1,001 28 26 12 11 8 5 12
Forsa 23 May–3 Jun 2008 1,005 40 27 11 9 8 5 13
Forsa 17 Mar–4 Apr 2008 1,007 40 28 10 9 8 5 12
Emnid 6 Apr 2008  ? 37 30 12 10 6  ? 7
Emnid 21 Feb–5 Mar 2008 1,000 37 35 9 7 7  ? 2
2008 state election 27 January 2008 – 36.8 36.7 9.4 7.5 5.1 4.4 0.1

Election result
Summary of the 18 January 2009 election results for the Landtag of Hesse
Party Constituency Party list Total
seats		 +/-
Votes  % Seats Votes  % +/- Seats
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 1,083,174 41.98 46 963,763 37.18 Increase 0.37 0 46 Increase 4
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 767,068 29.73 9 614,648 23.71 Decrease 12.97 20 29 Decrease 13
Free Democratic Party (FDP) 304,755 11.81 0 420,426 16.22 Increase 6.79 20 20 Increase 9
Alliance 90/The Greens (GRÜNE) 274,492 10.64 0 356,040 13.74 Increase 6.20 17 17 Increase 8
The Left (DIE LINKE) 117,330 4.55 0 139,074 5.37 Increase 0.23 6 6 Steady 0
Free Voters (FW) 3,997 0.15 0 42,153 1.63 Increase 0.74 0 0 Steady 0
National Democratic Party (NPD) 18,898 0.73 0 22,172 0.86 Decrease 0.02 0 0 Steady 0
The Republicans (REP) 7,685 0.30 0 15,664 0.60 Decrease 0.41 0 0 Steady 0
Pirate Party (PIRATEN) – 13,796 0.53 Increase 0.28 0 0 Steady 0
Civil Rights Movement Soliarity (BüSo) 962 0.04 0 4,136 0.16 Increase 0.12 0 0 Steady 0
Independents 2,093 0.08 0 – 0 Steady 0
Total 2,580,424 100.00 55 2,591,872 100.00 63 118 Increase 8
Invalid 89,961 3.37 78,513 2.94
Turnout 2,670,385 61.03 2,670,385 61.03 Decrease 3.29
Registered voters 4,375,286 4,375,286

References
  1. "Ypsilanti strikt gegen große Koalition in Hessen". Webnews.de (in German). 2011-03-26. Archived from the original on 2016-03-13. Retrieved 2023-10-14.
  2. "Rot-Rot-Grün auf die Dauer nicht ausgeschlossen - Politik - DerWesten". Archived from the original on 2008-10-09. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  3. "Umfrage in Hessen zeigt erdrutschartige Verluste für SPD". Reuters. 2008-12-04. Archived from the original on 2008-12-07. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
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