2000 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

2000 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

14 May 2000
All 231 seats of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia 116 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	7,336,411 (56.7%) 7.3%
First party Second party   Leader Wolfgang Clement Jürgen Rüttgers Party SPD CDU Last election 108 seats, 46.0% 89 seats, 37.7% Seats won 102 88 Seat change 6 1 Popular vote 3,143,179 2,712,176 Percentage 42.8% 37.0% Swing 3.2% 0.7%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Jürgen W. Möllemann Bärbel Höhn Party FDP Greens Last election 0 seats, 4.0% 24 seats, 10.0% Seats won 24 17 Seat change 24 7 Popular vote 721,558 518,295 Percentage 9.8% 7.1% Swing 5.8% 2.9%
Minister-President before election Wolfgang Clement SPD Elected Minister-President Wolfgang Clement SPD

The 2000 North Rhine-Westphalia state election was held on 14 May 2000 to elect the members of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The incumbent coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens was returned with a reduced majority. Minister-President Wolfgang Clement continued in office.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	1995 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Wolfgang Clement	46.0%	108 / 221
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Jürgen Rüttgers	37.7%	89 / 221
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics	Bärbel Höhn	10.0%	24 / 221

Opinion polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	SPD	CDU	Grüne	FDP	Others	Lead
2000 state election	14 May 2000	–	42.8	37.0	7.1	9.8	3.3	5.8
Infratest dimap	8 May 2000	?	45	38	7	7	3	7
Infratest dimap	5 May 2000	?	45	39	6	6	4	6
Emnid	26 Apr 2000	?	41	40	7	7	5	1
Forsa	19 Apr 2000	?	46	38	6	6	4	8
Infratest dimap	12 Apr 2000	?	46	33	7	8	6	13
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	3–6 Apr 2000	1,004	46	38	6	6	4	8
Infratest dimap	5 Mar 2000	?	47	32	7	9	5	15
Infratest dimap	16 Jan 2000	?	45	37	7	6	5	8
Forsa	9 Dec 1999	?	39	46	7	4	4	7
Emnid	6 Sep 1999	?	42	43	6	4	5	1
Forsa	3 Jun 1999	?	44	41	6	4	5	3
Psephos	23 Mar 1999	?	44	40	8	5	3	4
Psephos	3 Sep 1998	?	51	34	8	4	3	17
Psephos	28 May 1998	?	50	33	9	4	4	17
1995 state election	14 May 1995	–	46.0	37.7	10.0	4.0	2.3	8.3

Election result

Summary of the 14 May 2000 election results for the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia

Party		Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-	Seats %
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	3,143,179	42.8	3.2	102	6	44.2
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	2,712,176	37.0	0.7	88	1	38.1
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	721,558	9.8	5.8	24	24	10.4
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	518,295	7.1	2.9	17	7	7.4
	The Republicans (REP)	83,296	1.1	0.3	0	±0	0
	Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS)	79,934	1.1	1.1	0	±0	0
	Others	77,973	1.1		0	±0	0
Total		7,336,411	100.0		231	10
Voter turnout			56.7	7.3

Popular Vote SPD   42.84% CDU   36.97% FDP   9.84% B'90/GRÜNE   7.06% Other   3.29%

Landtag seats SPD   44.16% CDU   38.10% FDP   10.39% B'90/GRÜNE   7.36%

Sources

• The Federal Returning Officer