2014 Thuringian state election
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All 91 seats of the Landtag of Thuringia 46 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Registered | 1,812,370 5.1% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 941,719 (52.7%) 3.5% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Results for the direct mandates. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2014 Thuringian state election was held on 14 September 2014 to elect the members of the 6th Landtag of Thuringia. The government prior to the election was a grand coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Social Democratic Party (SPD) led by Minister-President Christine Lieberknecht. The government narrowly retained its majority. However, the SPD chose not to renew the coalition, instead pursuing an agreement to enter as a junior partner in a coalition with The Left and The Greens. After a vote of the SPD membership showed a majority in favour, the SPD went ahead with the agreement.[1][2]
On 5 December the red-red-green coalition, led by The Left's Bodo Ramelow, was elected by the Landtag with 46 out of 91 votes. This was the first time in its history that The Left had become the leading party of a governing coalition in Germany. Ramelow became The Left's first ever head of a state government.[3][4]
Parties
The table below lists parties represented in the 5th Landtag of Thuringia.
Name | Ideology | Leader(s) | 2004 result | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes (%) | Seats | |||||
bgcolor=Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color | | CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands |
Christian democracy | Christine Lieberknecht | 31.2% | 30 / 88
|
bgcolor=Template:The Left (Germany)/meta/color | | Linke | The Left Die Linke |
Democratic socialism | Bodo Ramelow | 27.4% | 27 / 88
|
bgcolor=Template:Social Democratic Party of Germany/meta/color | | SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands |
Social democracy | Heike Taubert | 18.5% | 18 / 88
|
bgcolor=Template:Free Democratic Party (Germany)/meta/color | | FDP | Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei |
Classical liberalism | Uwe Barth | 7.6% | 7 / 88
|
bgcolor=Template:Alliance 90/The Greens/meta/color | | Grüne | Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen |
Green politics | Anja Siegesmund | 6.2% | 6 / 88
|
Opinion polling
Polling firm | Fieldwork date | Sample size |
CDU | Linke | SPD | FDP | Grüne | NPD | FW | Piraten | AfD | Others | Lead |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color;"| | style="background:Template:The Left (Germany)/meta/color;"| | style="background:Template:Social Democratic Party of Germany/meta/color;"| | style="background:Template:Free Democratic Party (Germany)/meta/color;"| | style="background:Template:Alliance '90/The Greens/meta/color;"| | style="background:Template:National Democratic Party of Germany/meta/color;"| | style="background:Template:Free Voters/meta/color;"| | style="background:Template:Pirate Party Germany/meta/color;"| | style="background:Template:Alternative for Germany/meta/color;"| | |||||
2014 state election | 14 Sep 2014 | – | 33.5 | 28.2 | 12.4 | 2.5 | 5.7 | 3.6 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 10.6 | 0.9 | style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color; color:white;"| 5.3 |
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen | 10–11 Sep 2014 | 949 | 36.0 | 26.0 | 16.0 | – | 5.5 | – | – | – | 8.0 | 8.5 | style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color; color:white;"| 10.0 |
Infratest dimap | 2–4 Sep 2014 | 1,001 | 34 | 28 | 16 | 3 | 5 | 4 | – | – | 7 | 3 | style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color; color:white;"| 6 |
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen | 1–3 Sep 2014 | 1,002 | 36 | 26 | 16 | – | 6 | – | – | – | 8 | 8 | style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color; color:white;"| 10 |
INSA | 23 Jul–1 Aug 2014 | 500 | 34 | 26 | 19 | 4 | 6 | – | – | – | 5 | 6 | style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color; color:white;"| 8 |
Infratest dimap | 9–13 Jul 2014 | 1,000 | 36 | 27 | 19 | 2 | 6 | 2 | – | – | 4 | 4 | style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color; color:white;"| 9 |
INSA | 5 Jun–1 Jul 2014 | 2,009 | 33 | 25 | 18 | 3 | 6 | – | 2 | 2 | 7 | 4 | style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color; color:white;"| 8 |
2014 European election | 25 May 2014 | – | 31.8 | 22.5 | 18.4 | 2.1 | 5.0 | 3.4 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 7.4 | 6.2 | style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color; color:white;"| 9.3 |
Infratest dimap | 7–11 May 2014 | 1,001 | 36 | 28 | 19 | 2 | 5 | 3 | – | – | 4 | 3 | style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color; color:white;"| 8 |
Infratest dimap | 6–10 Mar 2014 | 1,000 | 38 | 28 | 17 | 2 | 6 | – | – | – | 5 | 4 | style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color; color:white;"| 10 |
INSA | 20 Feb 2014 | 1,000 | 35 | 25 | 20 | 3 | 5 | – | 2 | – | 5 | 5 | style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color; color:white;"| 10 |
aproxima | 17–21 Jan 2014 | 505 | 27 | 28 | 22 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | style="background:Template:The Left (Germany)/meta/color; color:white;"| 1 |
INSA | 19–25 Nov 2013 | 1,002 | 35 | 27 | 18 | 2 | 7 | – | – | – | 5 | 6 | style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color; color:white;"| 8 |
INSA | 5–8 Nov 2013 | 1,000 | 36 | 27 | 14 | 2 | 6 | – | – | – | 6 | 9 | style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color; color:white;"| 13 |
Emnid | 9–23 Oct 2013 | 1,000 | 39 | 26 | 17 | 1 | 5 | 2 | – | – | 7 | 3 | style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color; color:white;"| 13 |
2013 federal election | 22 Sep 2013 | – | 38.8 | 23.4 | 16.1 | 2.6 | 4.9 | 3.2 | 1.4 | 2.4 | 6.2 | 0.9 | style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color; color:white;"| 15.4 |
Infratest dimap | 9–15 Aug 2013 | 1,002 | 43 | 20 | 20 | 2 | 7 | – | – | – | – | 8 | style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color; color:white;"| 23 |
Infratest dimap | 27–30 Jun 2013 | 1,000 | 41 | 21 | 20 | 3 | 8 | – | – | 3 | – | 4 | style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color; color:white;"| 20 |
Infratest dimap | 10–15 May 2012 | 1,000 | 35 | 23 | 24 | 2 | 6 | – | – | 6 | – | 4 | style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color; color:white;"| 11 |
IfM Leipzig | 3–8 Aug 2011 | 1,005 | 33 | 25 | 20 | 4 | 11 | – | – | – | – | 7 | style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color; color:white;"| 8 |
Infratest dimap | 28 Apr–2 May 2010 | 1,000 | 32 | 29 | 21 | 5 | 6 | – | – | – | – | 7 | style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color; color:white;"| 3 |
2009 federal election | 27 Sep 2009 | – | 31.2 | 28.8 | 17.6 | 9.8 | 6.0 | 3.2 | – | 2.5 | – | 1.0 | style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color; color:white;"| 2.4 |
2009 state election | 30 Aug 2009 | – | 31.2 | 27.4 | 18.5 | 7.6 | 6.2 | 4.3 | 3.9 | – | – | 0.9 | style="background:Template:Christian Democratic Union of Germany/meta/color; color:white;"| 3.7 |
Results
style="width: 2px; background-color: #000000;" data-sort-value="Christian Democratic Union (Germany)" | style="width: 2px; background-color: #BE3075;" data-sort-value="The Left (Germany)" | style="width: 2px; background-color: #E3000F;" data-sort-value="Social Democratic Party of Germany" | style="width: 2px; background-color: #009DE0;" data-sort-value="Alternative for Germany" | style="width: 2px; background-color: #409A3C;" data-sort-value="Alliance '90/The Greens" | style="width: 2px; background-color: #8B4726;" data-sort-value="National Democratic Party of Germany" | style="width: 2px; background-color: #FFED00;" data-sort-value="Free Democratic Party (Germany)" |Party | Popular vote | Seats | ||||||||||||
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Votes | % | +/– | Seats | +/– | ||||||||||
Christian Democratic Union Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands – CDU |
315,096 | 33.5 | 2.3 | 34 | 4 | |||||||||
The Left Die Linke |
265,425 | 28.2 | 0.8 | 28 | 1 | |||||||||
Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands – SPD |
116,889 | 12.4 | 6.1 | 12 | 6 | |||||||||
Alternative for Germany Alternative für Deutschland – AfD |
99,548 | 10.6 | 10.6 | 11 | 11 | |||||||||
Alliance '90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen |
53,395 | 5.7 | 0.5 | 6 | ||||||||||
National Democratic Party Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands – NPD |
34,018 | 3.6 | 0.7 | 0 | ||||||||||
Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei – FDP |
23,352 | 2.5 | 5.1 | 0 | 7 | |||||||||
Other parties | 33,969 | 3.5 | 1.3 | 0 | ||||||||||
Valid votes | 941,692 | 98.6 | 0.4 | |||||||||||
Invalid votes | 13,271 | 1.4 | 0.4 | |||||||||||
Totals and voter turnout | 954,963 | 52.7 | 3.5 | 91 | 3 | |||||||||
Electorate | 1,812,249 | 100.00 | — | |||||||||||
Source: Wahlrecht.de |
Outcome
While the incumbent grand coalition narrowly retained its majority, both parties underperformed expectations. This was especially true for the SPD, which recorded a result worse than it had polled at any point during the preceding five-year parliamentary term. For this reason, the SPD leadership decided to leave the coalition and seek other options. The most clear choice was a "red-red-green coalition" with The Left and Greens. Though this arrangement had successfully governed other states in the past, such a government had always been led by the SPD. Due to the dominance of The Left in Thuringia, however, the only viable option would be a government headed by Bodo Ramelow, leader of The Left. This was a highly controversial prospect due to the party's status as the successor of the Socialist Unity Party, the former ruling party of East Germany. Nonetheless, the SPD pursued the option. They resolved to seek approval from their party membership before signing any agreements, however, and held among the party membership for this purpose; 69.9% were in favour. The SPD therefore moved ahead with plans.[3]
On 4 December, Ramelow was elected Minister-President by the Landtag on the second ballot, with a bare majority of 46 votes out of 91. Prior to the vote, thousands assembled outside the Landtag to protest the investiture of the government. Former East German dissidents were among the demonstrators, with some shouting "Stasi out!" and "The Social Democrats have betrayed us".[3]
Notes
References
- ^ "Thuringia's November revolution". The Economist. 1 November 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
- ^ "69,93 Prozent für Rot-Rot-Grün" (Press Release) (in German). SPD Thüringen. 4 November 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
- ^ a b c "Germany gets first socialist state governor since reunification". The Guardian. 5 December 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
- ^ "Bodo Ramelow schreibt Geschichte". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). 5 December 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.