2009 Hessian state election

The 2009 Hessian state election was held on 18 January 2009 to elect the members of the Landtag of Hesse. The election was called after the failure of all government formation attempts conducted after the 2008 state election held a year earlier. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) suffered major losses, falling from an effective tie with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to a 13.5-point deficit. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) and The Greens were the primary beneficiaries of the SPD's decline. After the election, the CDU formed a coalition government with the FDP, and Roland Koch was elected Minister-President.

2009 Hesse state election

← 2008 18 January 2009 2013 →
All 118 seats of the Landtag of Hesse 60 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	2,591,872 (61.0%) 3.3%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Roland Koch Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel Jörg-Uwe Hahn Party CDU SPD FDP Last election 42 seats, 36.8% 42 seats, 36.7% 11 seats, 9.4% Seats won 46 29 20 Seat change 4 13 9 Popular vote 963,763 614,648 420,426 Percentage 37.2% 23.7% 16.2% Swing 0.4% 13.0% 6.8%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Tarek Al-Wazir Willi van Ooyen Party Greens Left Last election 9 seats, 7.5% 6 seats, 5.1% Seats won 17 6 Seat change 8 0 Popular vote 356,040 139,074 Percentage 13.7% 5.4% Swing 6.2% 0.3%
Results for the single-member constituencies.
Minister-President before election Roland Koch CDU Elected Minister-President Roland Koch CDU

Background

The result of the 2008 Hessian state election was inconclusive, as neither the CDU–FDP or SPD–Green blocs had won a majority. This was due to the entry of The Left into the Landtag, with which the SPD was unwilling to cooperate, though both The Left and Greens supported a red-red-green coalition between the three parties. While a grand coalition between the CDU and SPD would command a comfortable majority, this option was very unpopular and was rejected by the SPD.^[1]

In October 2008, SPD leader Andrea Ypsilanti attempted to negotiate a red-red-green coalition, reneging on a pledge made earlier in the year not to do so.^[2] This caused a revolt within the Hessian SPD, resulting in Ypsilanti being deposed and the new leadership under Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel seeking fresh elections.^[3]

CDU leader Roland Koch had served as Minister-President prior to the 2008 election, and continued in office in a caretaker capacity between the 2008 and 2009 elections. He could not be unseated due to the inability of the SPD to form a new government; in Hesse, the motion to remove a serving government simultaneously invests confidence in a proposed new government, and requires an absolute majority to pass.

Parties

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

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	2008 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Roland Koch	36.8%	42 / 110
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel	36.7%	42 / 110
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	Jörg-Uwe Hahn	9.4%	11 / 110
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics	Tarek Al-Wazir	7.5%	9 / 110
	Linke	The Left Die Linke	Democratic socialism	Willi van Ooyen	5.1%	6 / 110

Opinion polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	CDU	SPD	FDP	Grüne	Linke	Others	Lead
2009 state election	18 January 2009	–	37.2	23.7	16.2	13.7	5.4	3.8	13.5
Forsa	6–9 Jan 2009	1,007	41	24	15	13	4	3	17
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	6–8 Jan 2009	1,072	41	25	13	13	5	3	16
Infratest dimap	5–7 Jan 2009	1,000	42	24	13	13	5	3	18
GMS	15–17 Dec 2008	1,004	41	25	13	13	5	3	16
Forsa	8–12 Dec 2008	1,005	42	23	13	12	6	4	19
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	1–4 Dec 2008	1,145	41	26	12	12	5	4	15
Emnid	28 Nov–3 Dec 2008	500	43	24	13	11	5	4	19
Infratest dimap	28 Nov–2 Dec 2008	1,000	41	23	13	14	6	3	18
Infratest dimap	4–5 Nov 2008	1,000	41	27	11	12	5	4	14
Infratest dimap	1–3 Sep 2008	1,000	39	28	12	11	7	3	11
Forsa	19–22 Aug 2008	1,001	28	26	12	11	8	5	12
Forsa	23 May–3 Jun 2008	1,005	40	27	11	9	8	5	13
Forsa	17 Mar–4 Apr 2008	1,007	40	28	10	9	8	5	12
Emnid	6 Apr 2008	?	37	30	12	10	6	?	7
Emnid	21 Feb–5 Mar 2008	1,000	37	35	9	7	7	?	2
2008 state election	27 January 2008	–	36.8	36.7	9.4	7.5	5.1	4.4	0.1

Election result

Summary of the 18 January 2009 election results for the Landtag of Hesse

Party		Constituency			Party list				Total seats	+/-
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	+/-	Seats
	Christian Democratic Union	1,083,174	41.98	46	963,763	37.18	+0.37	0	46	+4
	Social Democratic Party	767,068	29.73	9	614,648	23.71	-12.97	20	29	-13
	Free Democratic Party	304,755	11.81	0	420,426	16.22	+6.79	20	20	+9
	Alliance 90/The Greens	274,492	10.64	0	356,040	13.74	+6.20	17	17	+8
	The Left	117,330	4.55	0	139,074	5.37	+0.23	6	6	0
	Free Voters	3,997	0.15	0	42,153	1.63	+0.74	0	0	0
	National Democratic Party	18,898	0.73	0	22,172	0.86	-0.02	0	0	0
	The Republicans	7,685	0.30	0	15,664	0.60	-0.41	0	0	0
	Pirate Party	–			13,796	0.53	+0.28	0	0	0
	Civil Rights Movement Soliarity	962	0.04	0	4,136	0.16	+0.12	0	0	0
	Independents	2,093	0.08	0	–				0	0
Total		2,580,424	100.00	55	2,591,872	100.00		63	118	+8
Invalid		89,961	3.37		78,513	2.94
Turnout		2,670,385	61.03		2,670,385	61.03	-3.29
Registered voters		4,375,286			4,375,286