2003 Hessian state election

2003 Hesse state election
← 1999 2 February 2003 2008 →
All 110 seats of the Landtag of Hesse
56 seats needed for a majority
Turnout2,734,992 (64.6%)
Decrease 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 Increase 6 Decrease 13
Popular vote 1,333,863 795,576
Percentage 48.8% 29.1%
Swing Increase 5.4% Decrease 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 Increase 4 Increase 3
Popular vote 276,276 216,110
Percentage 10.1% 7.9%
Swing Increase 2.9% Increase 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 Increase 6
Social Democratic Party 898,813 33.10 2 795,576 29.09 -10.28 31 33 Decrease 13
Alliance 90/The Greens 230,261 8.48 0 276,276 10.10 +2.92 12 12 Increase 4
Free Democratic Party 148,632 5.47 0 216,110 7.90 +2.80 9 9 Increase 3
The Republicans 7,025 0.26 0 34,563 1.26 -1.42 0 0 Steady 0
Human Environment Animal Protection Party 4,815 0.18 0 20,600 0.75 +0.29 0 0 Steady 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 Steady 0
Party of Bible-abiding Christians 1,465 0.05 0 6,674 0.24 +0.07 0 0 Steady 0
German Communist Party 2,552 0.09 0 5,908 0.22 +0.08 0 0 Steady 0
Ecological Democratic Party 378 0.01 0 2,683 0.10 +0.02 0 0 Steady 0
Civil Rights Movement Soliarity 873 0.03 0 1,643 0.06 +0.04 0 0 Steady 0
Socialist Equality Party – 1,309 0.05 New 0 0 New
Independents 4,555 0.17 0 – 0 Steady 0
Socialist Alternative 356 0.01 0 – 0 New
Total 2,715,689 100.00 55 2,734,992 100.00 55 110 Steady 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