1999 Hessian state election

1999 Hesse state election

← 1995 7 February 1999 2003 →

All 110 seats of the Landtag of Hesse
56 seats needed for a majority
Turnout2,800,371 (66.4%)
Increase 0.1%
  First party Second party
 
Leader Roland Koch Hans Eichel
Party CDU SPD
Last election 45 seats, 39.2% 44 seats, 38.0%
Seats won 50 46
Seat change Increase 5 Increase 2
Popular vote 1,215,783 1,102,544
Percentage 43.4% 39.4%
Swing Increase 4.2% Increase 1.4%

  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Evelin Schönhut-Keil
Tarek Al-Wazir
Ruth Wagner
Party Greens FDP
Last election 13 seats, 11.2% 8 seats, 7.4%
Seats won 8 6
Seat change Decrease 5 Decrease 2
Popular vote 201,194 142,845
Percentage 7.2% 5.1%
Swing Decrease 4.0% Decrease 2.3%

Results for the single-member constituencies.

Minister-President before election

Hans Eichel
SPD

Elected Minister-President

Roland Koch
CDU

The 1999 Hessian state election was held on 7 February 1999 to elect the members of the 15th Landtag of Hesse. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens led by Minister-President Hans Eichel.

The government was unexpectedly defeated, with the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) winning a comfortable plurality and forming a one-seat majority coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FDP). This was despite prior opinion polling indicating the SPD and Greens would be re-elected comfortably and increase their majority. CDU leader Roland Koch was elected Minister-President by the Landtag in early April.