1998 Saxony-Anhalt state election

The 1998 Saxony-Anhalt state election was held on 26 April 1998 to elect the members of the 3rd Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt. The incumbent government was a minority coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens led by Minister-President Reinhard Höppner, supported by the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS). The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) suffered major losses, mostly to the national conservative German People's Union (DVU). The Greens fell out of the Landtag. After the election, the SPD formed a new minority government alone with the support of the PDS, and Höppner continued in office.

1998 Saxony-Anhalt state election

26 April 1998
All 116 seats in the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt 59 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	1,495,531 (71.5%) 16.7%
First party Second party   Leader Reinhard Höppner Party SPD CDU Last election 36 seats, 34.0% 37 seats, 34.4% Seats won 47 28 Seat change 11 9 Popular vote 536,501 329,282 Percentage 35.9% 22.0% Swing 1.9% 12.4%   Third party Fourth party   Party PDS DVU Last election 21 seats, 19.9% Did not run Seats won 25 16 Seat change 4 16 Popular vote 293,475 192,352 Percentage 19.6% 12.9% Swing 0.3% 12.9%
Minister-President before election Reinhard Höppner SPD Elected Minister-President Reinhard Höppner SPD

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 2nd Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt.

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	1994 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy		34.4%	37 / 99
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Reinhard Höppner	34.0%	36 / 99
	PDS	Party of Democratic Socialism Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus	Democratic socialism		19.9%	21 / 99
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics		5.1%	5 / 99

Election result

Summary of the 26 April 1998 election results for the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt

Party		Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-	Seats %
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	536,501	35.9	1.9	47	11	40.5
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	329,282	22.0	12.4	28	9	24.1
	Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS)	293,475	29.6	0.3	25	4	21.6
	German People's Union (DVU)	192,352	12.9	12.9	16	16	13.8
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	63,250	4.2	0.7	0	±0	0
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	48,542	3.2	1.9	0	5	0
	Others	32,219	2.1		0	±0	0
Total		1,495,531	100.0		116	17
Voter turnout			71.5	16.7

Popular Vote SPD   35.87% CDU   22.02% PDS   19.62% DVU   12.86% FDP   4.23% GRÜNE   3.25% Other   2.15%

Landtag seats SPD   40.52% CDU   24.14% PDS   21.55% DVU   13.79%

Sources

• Landtagswahl 1998