2003 Hessian state election

2003 Hesse state election

2 February 2003
All 110 seats of the Landtag of Hesse 56 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	2,734,992 (64.6%) 1.8%
First party Second party   Leader Roland Koch Gerhard Bökel Party CDU SPD Last election 50 seats, 43.4% 46 seats, 39.4% Seats won 56 33 Seat change 6 13 Popular vote 1,333,863 795,576 Percentage 48.8% 29.1% Swing 5.4% 10.3%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Evelin Schönhut-Keil Tarek Al-Wazir Ruth Wagner Party Greens FDP Last election 8 seats, 7.2% 6 seats, 5.1% Seats won 12 9 Seat change 4 3 Popular vote 276,276 216,110 Percentage 10.1% 7.9% Swing 2.9% 2.8%
Results for the single-member constituencies.
Minister-President before election Roland Koch CDU Elected Minister-President Roland Koch CDU

The 2003 Hessian state election was held on 2 February 2003 to elect the members of the Landtag of Hesse. The incumbent coalition government of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Roland Koch was returned with an increased majority. The CDU recorded a 5.4% swing in its favour, winning an absolute majority of seats. It subsequently formed government alone, with Roland Koch continuing in office.

Parties

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

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	1999 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Roland Koch	43.4%	50 / 110
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Gerhard Bökel	39.4%	46 / 110
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics	Evelin Schönhut-Keil Tarek Al-Wazir	7.2%	8 / 110
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	Ruth Wagner	5.1%	6 / 110

Opinion polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	CDU	SPD	Grüne	FDP	Others	Lead
2003 state election	2 February 2003	–	48.8	29.1	10.1	7.9	4.1	19.7
Forsa	31 Jan 2003	?	49	29	11	8	3	20
Forsa	20–24 Jan 2003	1,012	51	29	10	7	3	22
Forsa	13–18 Jan 2003	1,078	50	31	10	5	4	19
Infratest dimap	16–19 Jan 2003	1,000	48	31	11	7	3	17
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	13–16 Jan 2003	1,036	48	32	10	7	3	16
Forsa	6–10 Jan 2003	1,003	48	33	10	5	4	15
Infratest dimap	2–7 Jan 2003	1,000	47	33	10	5	5	14
Forsa	27 Dec–3 Jan 2003	1,120	47	32	12	5	4	15
Infratest dimap	2–4 Dec 2002	1,000	49	32	11	5	3	17
dimap	13 May 2002	?	45	35	6	9	5	10
Forsa	18 Jan 2001	?	40	39	8	7	6	1
Infratest dimap	28–31 Jan 2000	1,000	35	44	9	7	5	9
Ipos	19–21 Jan 2000	1,004	33	46	11	5	5	13
1999 state election	7 February 1999	–	43.4	39.4	7.2	5.1	4.9	4.0

Election result

Summary of the 2 February 2003 election results for the Landtag of Hesse

Party		Constituency			Party list				Total seats	+/-
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	+/-	Seats
	Christian Democratic Union	1,411,800	51.99	53	1,333,863	48.77	+5.36	3	56	6
	Social Democratic Party	898,813	33.10	2	795,576	29.09	-10.28	31	33	13
	Alliance 90/The Greens	230,261	8.48	0	276,276	10.10	+2.92	12	12	4
	Free Democratic Party	148,632	5.47	0	216,110	7.90	+2.80	9	9	3
	The Republicans	7,025	0.26	0	34,563	1.26	-1.42	0	0	0
	Human Environment Animal Protection Party	4,815	0.18	0	20,600	0.75	+0.29	0	0	0
	Airport Expansion Opponents	–			17,736	0.65	New	0	0	New
	Party for a Rule of Law Offensive	3,074	0.11	0	14,545	0.53	New	0	0	New
	Feminist Party of Germany	1,090	0.04	0	7,506	0.27	+0.04	0	0	0
	Party of Bible-abiding Christians	1,465	0.05	0	6,674	0.24	+0.07	0	0	0
	German Communist Party	2,552	0.09	0	5,908	0.22	+0.08	0	0	0
	Ecological Democratic Party	378	0.01	0	2,683	0.10	+0.02	0	0	0
	Civil Rights Movement Soliarity	873	0.03	0	1,643	0.06	+0.04	0	0	0
	Socialist Equality Party	–			1,309	0.05	New	0	0	New
	Independents	4,555	0.17	0	–				0	0
	Socialist Alternative	356	0.01	0	–				0	New
Total		2,715,689	100.00	55	2,734,992	100.00		55	110	0
Invalid		82,845	2.96		63,542	2.27
Turnout		2,798,534	64.62		2,798,534	64.62	-1.83
Registered voters		4,330,792			4,330,792

Sources

• The Federal Returning Officer