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.

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 Christian democracy Roland Koch 39.2% SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany Social democracy Hans Eichel 38.0% Grüne Alliance 90/The Greens Green politics Priska HinzRupert von Plottnitz 11.2% FDP Free Democratic Party Classical liberalism Ruth Wagner 7.4%

Opinion polling 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

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.staatsbuergerschaft Rhein Zeitung online, 5 January 1999

Election result 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 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

References

Sources The Federal Returning Officer