1978 Hessian state election

1978 Hessian state election
← 1974 8 October 1978 1982 →
All 110 seats in the Landtag of Hesse
56 seats needed for a majority
Turnout3,450,090 (87.7% Increase 2.9pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
KAS-Dregger, Alfred-Bild-14626-1.jpg
-Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F055060-0007A, Köln, SPD-Parteitag, Börner-2.jpg
Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F049586-0009, Frankfurt, FDP-Bundesparteitag, Karry (cropped).jpg
Candidate Alfred Dregger Holger Börner Ekkehard Gries
Party CDU SPD FDP
Last election 53 seats, 47.3% 49 seats, 43.2% 8 seats, 7.4%
Seats won 53 50 7
Seat change Steady 0 Increase 1 Decrease 1
Popular vote 1,575,445 1,515,953 225,044
Percentage 46.0% 44.3% 6.6%
Swing Decrease 1.3pp Increase 1.1pp Decrease 0.8pp
Results for the single-member constituencies.
Government before election

First Börner cabinet
SPD–FDP

Government after election

Second Börner cabinet
SPD–FDP

The 1978 Hessian state election was held on 8 October 1978 to elect the 9th Landtag of Hesse. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Holger Börner.

The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) remained the largest party with 46%, but the SPD narrowed the gap with a swing of about one percentage point. The FDP recorded a small decline. Overall, the incumbent coalition retained its majority with a net shift of one seat from the FDP to the SPD, and was renewed for a third term.