1985 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

1985 North Rhine-Westphalia state election
← 1980 12 May 1985 1990 →
All 227 seats in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, including 26 overhang and leveling seats
114 seats needed for a majority
Turnout9,560,681 (75.2% Decrease 4.8pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F073494-0025, Bundespressekonferenz, Bundestagswahlkampf, Rau.jpg
KAS-Birkesdorf-Bild-36464-1.jpg
Achim Rohde.png
Candidate Johannes Rau Bernhard Worms Achim Rohde
Party SPD CDU FDP
Last election 106 seats, 48.4% 95 seats, 43.2% 0 seats, 4.98%
Seats won 125 88 14
Seat change Increase 19 Decrease 7 Increase 14
Popular vote 4,942,346 3,463,656 565,413
Percentage 52.1% 36.5% 6.0%
Swing Increase 3.7pp Decrease 6.7pp Increase 1.0pp
Results for the single-member constituencies.
Government before election

Second Rau cabinet
SPD

Government after election

Third Rau cabinet
SPD

The 1985 North Rhine-Westphalia state election was held on 12 May 1985 to elect the 10th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The outgoing government was a majority of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), led by Minister-President Johannes Rau.

The SPD won re-election in a landslide, recording their best-ever result with 52.1% of votes. The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) suffered their worst result up until this point with 36.5%. The SPD's victory came despite an increase in support for minor parties: the Free Democratic Party (FDP) returned to the Landtag with 6% and 14 seats, while The Greens narrowly fell short with 4.6% of votes. The magnitude of the SPD's victory saw them win 125 of the 151 single-member constituencies, resulting in a number of leveling seats being added to ensure proportionality, boosting the Landtag to 227 seats.