2001 Rhineland-Palatinate state election

The 2001 Rhineland-Palatinate state election was held on 25 March 2001 to elect the members of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate. The incumbent coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Kurt Beck retained its majority and continued in office.

2001 Rhineland-Palatinate state election

25 March 2001
All 101 seats of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate 51 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	1,833,846 (62.2%) 8.6%
First party Second party   Leader Kurt Beck Christoph Böhr Party SPD CDU Last election 43 seats, 39.8% 41 seats, 38.7% Seats won 49 38 Seat change 6 3 Popular vote 820,610 647,238 Percentage 44.7% 35.3% Swing 5.0% 3.4%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Hans-Artur Bauckhage Party FDP Green Last election 10 seats, 8.9% 7 seats, 6.9% Seats won 8 6 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 143,427 95,567 Percentage 7.8% 5.2% Swing 1.1% 1.7%
Minister-President before election Kurt Beck SPD Elected Minister-President Kurt Beck SPD

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	1996 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Kurt Beck	39.8%	43 / 101
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Christoph Böhr	38.7%	41 / 101
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	Hans-Artur Bauckhage	8.9%	10 / 101
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics		6.9%	7 / 101

Opinion polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	SPD	CDU	FDP	Grüne	Others	Lead
2001 state election	25 March 2001	–	44.8	35.3	7.8	5.2	6.9	9.5
Infratest dimap	9–14 Mar 2001	1,000	43	35	9	6	7	8
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	5–8 Mar 2001	1,010	44	36	8	6	6	8
Infratest dimap	19–24 Feb 2001	1,000	44	39	7	5	5	5
Psephos	9–12 Feb 2001	1,004	41	37	9	7	6	4
Forsa	1 Feb 2001	?	40	37	11	8	4	3
polis	4 Jan 2001	?	42	39	7	5	7	3
Infratest dimap	20–25 Nov 2000	1,000	43	40	7	5	5	3
Psephos	October 2000	1,006	41	38	9	6	?	3
Infratest dimap	18–23 Sep 2000	1,000	40	43	7	5	5	3
Psephos	3–7 Aug 2000	1,002	42	36	10	6	?	6
Infratest dimap	19–24 Jun 2000	1,000	41	40	10	6	3	1
Psephos	16–20 May 2000	1,002	40	39	10	6	5	1
Infratest dimap	13–19 Mar 2000	1,000	43	36	10	6	5	7
Infratest dimap	December 1999	?	36	43	8	6	7	7
Infratest dimap	September 1999	?	37	44	8	6	?	7
Infratest dimap	July 1999	1,003	37	44	7	7	?	7
Infratest dimap	March 1999	?	40	39	10	6	5	1
Infratest dimap	December 1998	?	43	36	8	7	?	7
Infratest dimap	June 1998	1,002	44	34	9	6	?	10
Infratest dimap	March 1998	?	46	33	8	6	?	13
Infratest dimap	December 1997	1,002	41	36	8	8	?	5
Infratest dimap	September 1997	?	42	35	8	8	?	7
1996 state election	24 March 1996	–	39.8	38.7	8.9	6.9	5.7	1.1

Election result

Summary of the 25 March 2001 election results for the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate

Party		Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-	Seats %
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	820,610	44.8	5.0	49	6	48.5
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	647,238	35.3	3.4	38	3	37.6
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	143,427	7.8	1.1	8	2	7.9
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	95,567	5.2	1.7	6	1	5.9
	Free Voters (FW)	46,549	2.5	2.5	0	±0	0
	The Republicans (REP)	44,586	2.4	1.1	0	±0	0
	Others	35,869	2.0		0	±0	0
Total		1,833,846	100.0		101	±0
Voter turnout			62.2	8.6

Popular Vote SPD   44.75% CDU   35.29% FDP   7.82% B'90/GRÜNE   5.21% Other   6.93%

Landtag seats SPD   48.51% CDU   37.62% FDP   7.92% B'90/GRÜNE   5.94%

Sources

• The Federal Returning Officer