2003 Hessian state election

The 2003 Hessian state election was held on 2 February 2003 to elect the members of the Landtag of Hesse. The incumbent coalition government of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Roland Koch was returned with an increased majority. The CDU recorded a 5.4% swing in its favour, winning an absolute majority of seats. It subsequently formed government alone, with Roland Koch continuing in office.

2003 Hesse state election

← 1999 2 February 2003 2008 →
All 110 seats of the Landtag of Hesse 56 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	2,734,992 (64.6%) 1.8%
First party Second party   Leader Roland Koch Gerhard Bökel Party CDU SPD Last election 50 seats, 43.4% 46 seats, 39.4% Seats won 56 33 Seat change 6 13 Popular vote 1,333,863 795,576 Percentage 48.8% 29.1% Swing 5.4% 10.3%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Evelin Schönhut-Keil Tarek Al-Wazir Ruth Wagner Party Greens FDP Last election 8 seats, 7.2% 6 seats, 5.1% Seats won 12 9 Seat change 4 3 Popular vote 276,276 216,110 Percentage 10.1% 7.9% Swing 2.9% 2.8%
Results for the single-member constituencies.
Minister-President before election Roland Koch CDU Elected Minister-President Roland Koch CDU

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Hesse.

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	1999 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Roland Koch	43.4%	50 / 110
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Gerhard Bökel	39.4%	46 / 110
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics	Evelin Schönhut-Keil Tarek Al-Wazir	7.2%	8 / 110
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	Ruth Wagner	5.1%	6 / 110

Opinion polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	CDU	SPD	Grüne	FDP	Others	Lead
2003 state election	2 February 2003	–	48.8	29.1	10.1	7.9	4.1	19.7
Forsa	31 Jan 2003	?	49	29	11	8	3	20
Forsa	20–24 Jan 2003	1,012	51	29	10	7	3	22
Forsa	13–18 Jan 2003	1,078	50	31	10	5	4	19
Infratest dimap	16–19 Jan 2003	1,000	48	31	11	7	3	17
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	13–16 Jan 2003	1,036	48	32	10	7	3	16
Forsa	6–10 Jan 2003	1,003	48	33	10	5	4	15
Infratest dimap	2–7 Jan 2003	1,000	47	33	10	5	5	14
Forsa	27 Dec–3 Jan 2003	1,120	47	32	12	5	4	15
Infratest dimap	2–4 Dec 2002	1,000	49	32	11	5	3	17
dimap	13 May 2002	?	45	35	6	9	5	10
Forsa	18 Jan 2001	?	40	39	8	7	6	1
Infratest dimap	28–31 Jan 2000	1,000	35	44	9	7	5	9
Ipos	19–21 Jan 2000	1,004	33	46	11	5	5	13
1999 state election	7 February 1999	–	43.4	39.4	7.2	5.1	4.9	4.0

Election result

Summary of the 2 February 2003 election results for the Landtag of Hesse

Party		Constituency			Party list				Total seats	+/-
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	+/-	Seats
	Christian Democratic Union	1,411,800	51.99	53	1,333,863	48.77	+5.36	3	56	6
	Social Democratic Party	898,813	33.10	2	795,576	29.09	-10.28	31	33	13
	Alliance 90/The Greens	230,261	8.48	0	276,276	10.10	+2.92	12	12	4
	Free Democratic Party	148,632	5.47	0	216,110	7.90	+2.80	9	9	3
	The Republicans	7,025	0.26	0	34,563	1.26	-1.42	0	0	0
	Human Environment Animal Protection Party	4,815	0.18	0	20,600	0.75	+0.29	0	0	0
	Airport Expansion Opponents	–			17,736	0.65	New	0	0	New
	Party for a Rule of Law Offensive	3,074	0.11	0	14,545	0.53	New	0	0	New
	Feminist Party of Germany	1,090	0.04	0	7,506	0.27	+0.04	0	0	0
	Party of Bible-abiding Christians	1,465	0.05	0	6,674	0.24	+0.07	0	0	0
	German Communist Party	2,552	0.09	0	5,908	0.22	+0.08	0	0	0
	Ecological Democratic Party	378	0.01	0	2,683	0.10	+0.02	0	0	0
	Civil Rights Movement Soliarity	873	0.03	0	1,643	0.06	+0.04	0	0	0
	Socialist Equality Party	–			1,309	0.05	New	0	0	New
	Independents	4,555	0.17	0	–				0	0
	Socialist Alternative	356	0.01	0	–				0	New
Total		2,715,689	100.00	55	2,734,992	100.00		55	110	0
Invalid		82,845	2.96		63,542	2.27
Turnout		2,798,534	64.62		2,798,534	64.62	-1.83
Registered voters		4,330,792			4,330,792

Sources

• The Federal Returning Officer