Bavarian state election, 2008

Bavaria state election, 2008

28 September 2008 (2008-09-28)
All 187 seats in the Landtag of Bavaria
First party Second party Third party   150x150px 150x150px 150x150px Leader Günther Beckstein Franz Maget Hubert Aiwanger Party CSU SPD FW Last election 124 seats 41 seats 0 seats Seats won 92 39 21 Seat change 32 2 21 Percentage 43.4% 18.6% 10.2% Swing 17.3% 1.0% 6.2%   Fourth party Fifth party   150x150px 150x150px Leader Sepp Daxenberger Martin Zeil Party Green FDP Last election 15 seats 0 seats Seats won 19 16 Seat change 4 16 Percentage 9.4% 8.0% Swing 1.7% 5.4%
Minister President before election Günther Beckstein CSU Resulting Minister President Horst Seehofer CSU

The 2008 Bavarian state election was held on 28 September 2008. Voters of the German state of Bavaria elected members to the Bavarian Landtag (state legislature).

Outcome

• The CSU had its poorest result since the election of 1954, and in so doing lost its majority in the Landtag of Bavaria for the first time in 46 years. The CSU was forced to enter into coalition with the free-market FDP, reminiscent of the Helmut Kohl era.
• This result was seen as a stinging defeat for Chancellor Angela Merkel, dampening hopes for the CDU/CSU in the upcoming federal election in 2009.
• The SPD also fared poorly, itself having its worst result ever in this election, polling just 18.6% and losing 2 seats. This is likely due to the entrance into the race of the left Linke party, among other factors. Surprisingly, some SPD members claimed themselves to be winners of the election, interpreting the lost CSU majority as possibility to form a government coalition without CSU participation.
• The liberal FDP entered the Landtag again, after a 14-year absence.
• The Free Voters grassroots movement entered the Landtag for the first time. Its 21 seats in the new Landtag will make it the third largest party.
• The socialist Linke party stood for the first time in Bavaria. Its 4.3% vote-share failed to surpass the 5% threshold, thus it gained no seats.
• The far-right NPD made its first serious attempt in Bavaria in decades, but failed to establish itself.

Results

 Summary of the 28 September 2008 election results for the Landtag of Bavaria

Party		Ideology	Vote (change)		Seats (change)		Seats %
	Christian Social Union (CSU)	Centre-right	43.4%	−17.3	92	−32	49.2%
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	Centre-left	18.6%	−1.0	39	−2	20.9%
	Free Voters (FW)	Various, lean right	10.2%	+6.2	21	+21	11.2%
	Alliance '90/The Greens	Environmental, left-wing	9.4%	+1.7	19	+4	10.2%
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	Classical liberalism	8.0%	+5.4	16	+16	8.6%
	The Left (Die Linke)	Left-wing	4.3%	+4.3
	Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP)	Environmental, centre-right	2.0%	+0.0
	The Republicans (Republikaner)	Right-wing	1.4%	−0.9
	National Democratic Party (NPD)	Far-right, nationalist	1.2%	+1.2
	Bavaria Party (BP)	Secessionist, center-right	1.1%	+0.3
	Pensioners' Party (RRP)	Pensioner's Advocacy	0.2%	+0.2
	The Violets (Violetten)	Spiritualist	0.1%	+0.1
	Citizens' Bloc (BB)		0.1%	+0.1
	All Others		0.0%	+0.0
	Total		100.0%		187	+7	100.0%

Turnout was at 58.1%, about a percent higher than in 2003.

See also

• Bavaria state election, 1993
• Bavaria state election, 1998
• Bavaria state election, 2003

External links

• Official results (German)
• Article by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (German)