1999 Hessian state election

The 1999 Hessian state election was held on 7 February 1999 to elect the members of the Landtag of Hesse. The incumbent coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens led by Minister-President Hans Eichel was defeated. This came despite polls indicating the government would be returned with an increased majority and that the SPD would overtake the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) as the largest party in the Landtag. After the election, the CDU and Free Democratic Party (FDP) formed a coalition, with CDU leader Roland Koch elected as Minister-President.

1999 Hesse state election

7 February 1999
All 110 seats of the Landtag of Hesse 56 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	2,800,371 (66.4%) 0.1%
First party Second party   Leader Roland Koch Hans Eichel Party CDU SPD Last election 45 seats, 39.2% 44 seats, 38.0% Seats won 50 46 Seat change 5 2 Popular vote 1,215,783 1,102,544 Percentage 43.4% 39.4% Swing 4.2% 1.4%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Evelin Schönhut-Keil Tarek Al-Wazir Ruth Wagner Party Green FDP Last election 13 seats, 11.2% 8 seats, 7.4% Seats won 8 6 Seat change 5 2 Popular vote 201,194 142,845 Percentage 7.2% 5.1% Swing 4.0% 2.3%
Minister-President before election Hans Eichel SPD Elected Minister-President Roland Koch CDU

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 Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Roland Koch	39.2%	45 / 110
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Hans Eichel	38.0%	44 / 110
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics	Priska Hinz Rupert von Plottnitz	11.2%	13 / 110
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	Ruth Wagner	7.4%	8 / 110

Opinion polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	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

Election result

Summary of the 7 February 1999 election results for the Landtag of Hesse

Party		Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-	Seats %
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	1,215,783	43.4	4.2	50	5	45.5
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	1,102,544	39.4	1.4	46	2	41.8
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	201,194	7.2	4.0	8	5	7.3
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	142,845	5.1	2.3	6	2	5.5
	The Republicans (REP)	75,113	2.7	0.7	0	±0	0
	Others	62,892	2.2		0	±0	0
Total		2,800,371	100.0		110	±0
Voter turnout			66.4	0.1

Popular Vote CDU   43.42% SPD   39.37% B'90/GRÜNE   7.18% FDP   5.10% REP   2.68% Other   2.25%

Landtag seats CDU   45.45% SPD   41.82% B'90/GRÜNE   7.27% FDP   5.45%

Sources

• The Federal Returning Officer