1998 Bavarian state election

The 1998 Bavarian state election was held on 13 September 1998 to elect the members of the 14th Landtag of Bavaria. The Christian Social Union (CSU) led by Minister-President Edmund Stoiber retained its majority with minor gains, while the opposition took minor losses. The largest change in the election was the rise in popularity of the Free Voters of Bavaria, who won 3.7% of the vote, but failed to win any seats.

1998 Bavarian state election

13 September 1998
All 204 seats in the Landtag of Bavaria 103 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	12,186,909 (69.8%) 2.0%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Edmund Stoiber Renate Schmidt Jerzy Montag Party CSU SPD Green Last election 120 seats, 52.8% 70 seats, 30.0% 14 seats, 6.1% Seats won 123 67 14 Seat change 3 3 0 Popular vote 6,447,764 3,501,900 692,456 Percentage 52.9% 28.7% 5.7% Swing 0.1% 1.3% 0.4%
Minister-President before election Edmund Stoiber CSU Elected Minister-President Edmund Stoiber CSU

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 13th Landtag of Bavaria.

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	1994 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	CSU	Christian Social Union in Bavaria Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern	Christian democracy	Edmund Stoiber	52.8%	120 / 204
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Renate Schmidt	30.0%	70 / 204
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics	Jerzy Montag	6.1%	14 / 204

Opinion polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	CSU	SPD	Grüne	REP	FDP	FW	Others	Lead
1998 state election	13 Sep 1998	–	52.9	28.7	5.7	3.6	1.7	3.7	3.7[lower-alpha 1]	24.2
Forsa	?	?	49	34	5	4	2	3	3	15
Polis	27 Aug–1 Sep 1998	1,010	50	33	6	3	3	3	2	17
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	24–26 Aug 1998	979	51	32	5	4	2	4	3	19
Infratest dimap	21–26 Aug 1998	1,000	50	32	5	2	3	4	4	18
Forsa	?	?	47	35	5	–	3	–	10[lower-alpha 2]	12
INRA	1998	?	46	35	?	?	?	?	?	11
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	15–19 May 1998	1,011	46	34	5	4	3	2	6[lower-alpha 3]	12
INRA	1998	1,000	46	36	5	3	3	3	?	10
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	16–18 Feb 1998	1,009	46	32	7	5	3	3	4	14
Forsa	31 Aug 1997	~1,000	47	33	?	?	?	3	?	14
1994 state election	25 Sep 1994	–	52.8	30.0	6.1	3.9	2.8	0.1	4.3[lower-alpha 4]	22.8

Election result

Summary of the 13 September 1998 election results for the Landtag of Bavaria

Party		Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-	Seats %
	Christian Social Union (CSU)	6,447,764	52.9	0.8	123	3	60.3
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	3,501,900	28.7	1.3	67	3	32.8
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	692,456	5.7	0.4	14	±0	6.9
	Free Voters of Bavaria (FW)	446,115	3.7	3.6	0	±0	0
	The Republicans (REP)	438,144	3.6	0.3	0	±0	0
	Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP)	217,840	1.8	0.3	0	±0	0
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	201,788	1.7	1.1	0	±0	0
	Others	240,902	1.9	0.4	0	±0	0
Total		12,186,909	100.0		204	±0
Voter turnout			69.8	2.0

Popular Vote CSU   52.91% SPD   28.73% B'90/GRÜNE   5.68% Other   12.68%

Landtag seats CSU   60.29% SPD   32.84% B'90/GRÜNE   6.86%

Notes

1. 1.8% ÖDP, 1.9% Other
2. 4% Right-wing parties, 6% Other
3. 3% ÖDP, 3% Other
4. 2.1% ÖDP, 2.2% Other

Sources

• The Federal Returning Officer