2003 Bremen state election

The 2003 Bremen state election was held on 25 May 2003 to elect the members of the Bürgerschaft of Bremen, as well as the city councils of Bremen and Bremerhaven. The incumbent grand coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) led by Mayor Henning Scherf retained its majority and continued in office.

2003 Bremen state election

25 May 2003
All 83 seats in the Bürgerschaft of Bremen 42 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	291,766 (61.3%) 1.2%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Henning Scherf Party SPD CDU Green Last election 47 seats, 42.6% 42 seats, 37.1% 10 seats, 8.9% Seats won 40 29 12 Seat change 7 13 2 Popular vote 123,480 86,819 37,350 Percentage 42.3% 29.8% 12.8% Swing 0.3% 7.3% 3.9%   Fourth party Fifth party   Party FDP DVU Last election 0 seats, 2.5% 1 seat, 3.0% Seats won 1 1 Seat change 1 0 Popular vote 12,294 6,642 Percentage 4.2% 2.3% Swing 1.7% 0.7%
Mayor before election Henning Scherf SPD Elected Mayor Henning Scherf SPD

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Bürgerschaft of Bremen.

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	1999 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Henning Scherf	42.6%	47 / 100
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy		37.1%	42 / 100
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics		8.9%	10 / 100
	DVU	German People's Union Deutsche Volksunion	German nationalism		3.0%	1 / 100

Opinion polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	SPD	CDU	Grüne	DVU	PDS	FDP	Others	Lead
2003 state election	25 May 2003	–	42.3	29.8	12.8	2.3	1.7	4.2	6.9	12.5
Infratest dimap	13–15 May 2003	1,000	38	36	12	2	2	5	5	2
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	5–8 May 2003	1,003	38	36	14	–	–	5	7	2
Forsa	24–30 Apr 2003	1,194	37	38	14	–	–	4	7	1
Infratest dimap	25–28 Apr 2003	1,000	42.5	34	13	–	2	4.5	4	8.5
Infratest	16 Apr 2003	?	42	35	13	–	–	4	6	7
1999 state election	6 June 1999	–	42.6	37.1	8.9	3.0	2.9	2.5	2.9	5.5

Election result

Summary of the 25 May 2003 election results for the Bürgerschaft of Bremen

Party		Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-	Seats %
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	123,480	42.3	0.3	40	7	48.2
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	86,819	29.8	7.3	29	13	34.9
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	37,350	12.8	3.9	12	2	14.5
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	12,294	4.2	1.7	1	1	1.2
	German People's Union (DVU)	6,642	2.3	0.7	1	0	1.2
	Party for a Rule of Law Offensive (PRO)	12,876	4.4	4.4	0	±0	0
	Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS)	4,885	1.7	1.2	0	±0	0
	Others	7,420	2.5		0	±0	0
Total		291,766	100.0		83	17
Voter turnout			61.3	1.2

Popular Vote SPD   42.32% CDU   29.76% B'90/GRÜNE   12.80% PRO   4.41% FDP   4.21% DVU   2.28% PDS   1.67% Other   2.54%

Bürgerschaft seats SPD   48.19% CDU   34.94% B'90/GRÜNE   14.46% FDP   1.20% DVU   1.20%

Sources

• The Federal Returning Officer