The 2023 Bremen state election was held on 14 May 2023 to elect the 21st Bürgerschaft of Bremen. Elections to the city councils of Bremen and Bremerhaven, the two municipal entities comprising the state of Bremen, were held simultaneously. The incumbent government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Alliance 90/The Greens, and The Left led by Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte.

With 30% of the vote, the SPD emerged as the largest party on a modest swing. The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) remained steady on 26% but fell to second place. The Greens suffered a significant decline to 12%, while The Left repeated its 2019 performance of 11%. The right-wing Citizens in Rage (BiW) achieved their best-ever result with 9.4%, benefitting from the absence of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), who were disqualified from running due to internal party disputes. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) narrowly retained their seats with 5.1%.

On 25 June, the incumbent governing coalition announced that they would renew their cooperation, forming the Second Bovenschulte senate.

Election date and electoral system According to Bremen state constitution, the Bürgerschaft has a term of four years, and elections must take place on a Sunday or public holiday during the last month of the previous term. Bremen is the only German state whose parliament sits for a four-year term; all others have terms of five years. The previous election took place on 26 May 2019, and the date for the 2023 election was set for 14 May.

The Bürgerschaft is elected via open party-list proportional representation in two multi-member constituencies corresponding to the two parts of the state: the city of Bremen and the city of Bremerhaven. A five percent electoral threshold is applied independently in both areas. 72 members are elected in Bremen and 15 in Bremerhaven, for a total of 87 seats in the Bürgerschaft. Seat distribution is calculated using the Sainte-Laguë method. Voters each have five votes which may be distributed between party lists and the candidates within them; voters may cast multiple votes for a single candidate or list (panachage with cumulative voting). In Bremen (but not Bremerhaven), the same ballot is also used to elect the city council, also consisting of 72 members elected from the same pool of parties and candidates.

All German citizens aged 16 years or older who have lived in Bremen for at least three months are eligible to vote. Additionally, EU citizens residing in the city of Bremen and meeting the same requirements may vote, but their votes only count toward the Bremen city council election, not the state Bürgerschaft. Due to this, results for the Bremen city council may vary slightly from the state election results.

Background

In the previous election held on 26 May 2019, the CDU became the largest party in the Bürgerschaft for the first time in post-war history, winning 26.7%. The SPD, which has governed the state continuously since the Second World War, was reduced to second place on 24.9%, a record low for the party and down eight percentage points from the 2015 election. The Greens and Left both improved modestly, taking 17% and 11% respectively, while the AfD and FDP won 6% each with slight losses. Citizens in Rage (BiW) retained its single seat in Bremerhaven.

The previous governing coalition of the SPD and Greens lost its majority in the election. Despite the CDU achieving a plurality, the Bürgerschaft retained an overall left-wing majority of the SPD, Greens, and Left. The three parties subsequently formed a coalition government under new mayor Andreas Bovenschulte, marking the first time The Left had entered government in a western state.

Parties The table below lists parties represented in the previous Bürgerschaft of Bremen. Name Ideology Leadcandidate 2019 result Votes (%) Seats CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christian democracy Frank Imhoff 26.7% SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany Social democracy Andreas Bovenschulte 24.9% Grüne Alliance 90/The Greens Green politics Maike Schaefer 15.1% Linke The Left Democratic socialism Kristina Vogt 11.3% AfD Alternative for Germany Right-wing populism 6.1% FDP Free Democratic Party Classical liberalism Thore Schäck 5.9% BIW Citizens in Rage Right-wing populism Piet Leidreiter 3.2%

In March 2023, the state electoral committee disqualified the Alternative for Germany from running in the election due to the attempts of two different groups of party officials, both claiming to be the legitimate party executive, submitting competing lists.

Besides parties represented in the outgoing Bürgerschaft, ten parties ran in the election:

Grassroots Democratic Party of Germany (dieBasis) Basic Income for All (GFA) Marxist–Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD) MERA25 Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP) Die PARTEI Human Environment Animal Protection Party (Tierschutzpartei) Pirate Party Germany Volt Bremen Party for Biomedical Rejuvenation Research

Of these, all except the ÖDP and Pirate Party ran lists in Bremen only. The ÖDP ran lists in both Bremen and Bremerhaven, while the Pirate Party ran only in Bremerhaven.

Opinion polling

Party polling Polling firm Fieldwork date Samplesize CDU SPD Grüne Linke AfD FDP BiW Others Lead 2023 state election – 26.2 29.8 11.9 10.9 – 5.1 9.4 6.7 3.6 Wahlkreisprognose 700 25.5 29 13 11 – 5.5 10 6 3.5 Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 10–11 May 2023 1,088 26 29 13 11 – 6 10 5 3 INSA 2–8 May 2023 1,000 28 30 12 9 – 6 8 7 2 Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 27 Apr–4 May 2023 1,024 27 30 13 9 – 6 9 6 3 Infratest dimap 1–3 May 2023 1,450 27 30 13 10 – 6 9 5 3 Wahlkreisprognose 29 Apr–3 May 2023 727 26 32 15.5 8 – 6 7.5 5 6 INSA 21–28 Apr 2023 500 30 30 15 6 – 7 7 5 Tie Infratest dimap 13–17 Apr 2023 1,155 28 31 17 7 – 6 6 5 323 Mar 2023AfD list for Bremerhaven was disqualifiedEilmeldungtagesschau.de Wahlkreisprognose 17–19 Mar 2023 900 25.5 28 19 9 1 5 6.5 6 2.517 Mar 2023Both AfD lists in Bremen (electoral district) were disqualified Infratest dimap 22–27 Feb 2023 1,179 27 28 19 8 7 4 – 7 1 Wahlkreisprognose 13–17 Feb 2023 832 21.5 27.5 19.5 9 10 4.5 2.5 5.5 6 Wahlkreisprognose 19–23 Dec 2022 967 20 29 20 10 9.5 4.5 2.5 4.5 9 Wahlkreisprognose 28 Nov–1 Dec 2022 1,200 22 28 19.5 9.5 10 4.5 2 4.5 6 Wahlkreisprognose 13–22 Oct 2022 989 21 26 21 6.5 11 5 4 5.5 5 Wahlkreisprognose 18–26 Sep 2022 1,010 23 28 18 9 9.5 5.5 3 4 5 Wahlkreisprognose 19–29 Aug 2022 1,014 24.5 30.5 18.5 8.5 7.5 5 2 3.5 6 Wahlkreisprognose 19–28 Jul 2022 1,009 24.5 30 21 8.5 5 5 2 4 5.5 Wahlkreisprognose 12–22 Jun 2022 1,423 23.5 32 19 9 5.5 5 1.5 4.5 8.5 Wahlkreisprognose 21–27 May 2022 1,104 20 34.5 20 10 5.5 5 2 3 14.5 Infratest dimap 11–16 May 2022 1,145 22 30 21 8 6 6 – 7 8 Wahlkreisprognose 24 Feb – 5 Mar 2022 1,200 18 31 20 10 6 8 3 4 11 2021 federal election 26 Sep 2021 – 17.2 31.5 20.9 7.7 6.9 9.3 – 6.6 10.6 2019 state election 26 May 2019 – 26.7 24.9 17.4 11.3 6.1 5.9 2.4 5.3 1.8

Mayor polling Polling firm Fieldwork date Samplesize None/Unsure Lead CDU CDU SPD Grüne Linke Wahlkreisprognose 700 28 – 61 – – 11 33 Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 10–11 May 2023 1,088 23 – 60 – – 17 37 Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 27 Apr–4 May 2023 1,024 24 – 58 – – 18 34 Infratest dimap 1–3 May 2023 1,450 23 – 59 – – 18 36 Wahlkreisprognose 29 Apr–3 May 2023 727 26 – 49 8 10 7 23 Infratest dimap 13–17 Apr 2023 1,155 17 – 52 5 – 26 35 Wahlkreisprognose 17–19 Mar 2023 900 27 – 45 9 14 5 18 Wahlkreisprognose 13–17 Feb 2023 832 21 – 45 10 9 15 24 Wahlkreisprognose 19–23 Dec 2022 967 20 – 47 7 12 14 27 Wahlkreisprognose 28 Nov–1 Dec 2022 1,200 21 – 46 7 9 17 25 Wahlkreisprognose 13–22 Oct 2022 989 25 – 54 7 5 9 29 Wahlkreisprognose 18–26 Sep 2022 1,010 27 – 54 3 5 11 27 Wahlkreisprognose 19–29 Aug 2022 1,014 28 – 58 3 3 8 30 Wahlkreisprognose 19–28 Jul 2022 1,009 27 – 59 3 4 7 32 Wahlkreisprognose 12–22 Jun 2022 1,423 26 – 54 7 6 7 28 Wahlkreisprognose 21–27 May 2022 1,104 18 – 65 3 5 9 47 Wahlkreisprognose 24 Feb – 5 Mar 2022 1,200 – 12 64 6 8 – 52

Results Party Votes % Swing Seats Totalseats Change Bremen Bremerhaven Social Democratic Party (SPD) 376,610 29.8 4.9 23 4 27 4 Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 331,380 26.2 0.4 21 3 24 0 Alliance 90/The Greens (GRÜNE) 150,263 11.9 5.5 9 2 11 5 The Left (DIE LINKE) 137,676 10.9 0.4 9 1 10 0 Citizens in Rage (BiW) 118,695 9.4 7.0 6 4 10 9 Free Democratic Party (FDP) 64,155 5.1 0.9 4 1 5 0 Volt Germany (Volt) 24,828 2.0 New 0 – 0 New Human Environment Animal Protection Party 13,819 1.1 New 0 – 0 New Die PARTEI 12,052 1.0 0.7 0 – 0 0 Grassroots Democratic Party (dieBasis) 9,988 0.8 New 0 – 0 New MERA25 7,912 0.6 New 0 – 0 New Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP) 5,498 0.4 New 0 0 0 New Basic Income for All (GFA) 5,351 0.4 New 0 – 0 New Pirate Party Germany (Piraten) 2,184 0.2 0.8 – 0 0 0 Marxist–Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD) 1,993 0.2 New 0 – 0 New Party for Biomedical Rejuvenation Research 1,484 0.1 New 0 – 0 New Total 1,263,908 100.0 72 15 87 3 Invalid 6,698 2.6 0.3 Turnout 262,099 56.9 7.2 Registered voters 460,778 Source: Wahlen Bremen

Results by area

Bremen