1998 Lower Saxony state election

1998 Lower Saxony state election

← 1994 1 March 1998 2003 →

All 157 seats in the Landtag of Lower Saxony
79 seats needed for a majority
Turnout4,314,932 (73.8%)
Increase 0.0%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Gerhard Schröder Christian Wulff
Party SPD CDU Greens
Last election 81 seats, 44.3% 67 seats, 36.4% 13 seats, 7.4%
Seats won 83 62 12
Seat change Increase 2 Decrease 5 Decrease 1
Popular vote 2,068,477 1,549,227 304,193
Percentage 47.9% 35.9% 7.0%
Swing Increase 3.6% Decrease 0.5% Decrease 0.4%

Results for the single-member constituencies

Minister-President before election

Gerhard Schröder
SPD

Elected Minister-President

Gerhard Schröder
SPD

The 1998 Lower Saxony state election was held on 1 March 1998 to elect the members of the 14th Landtag of Lower Saxony. The incumbent Social Democratic Party (SPD) government led by Minister-President Gerhard Schröder was returned with an increased majority. Schröder was subsequently re-elected as minister-president.

Schröder took the election as a test run for a potential federal election in September. He said that if the SPD received less than 42 percent of the vote, he would rule out a bid to become the party's chancellor candidate. Achieving 47.9 percent of the vote, he later announced his (successful) candidacy and went on to form the first federal SPD-led government since 1982.[1]

  1. ^ Pulzer, Peter. "The German Federal Election of 1998." West European Politics July 1999: 241–249.