2009 Thuringian state election

Thuringia state election, 2009

30 August 2009
All 88 seats of the Landtag of Thuringia
First party Second party Third party   Leader Dieter Althaus Bodo Ramelow Christoph Matschie Party CDU Left SPD Last election 45 seats, 43.0% 28 seats, 26.2% 15 seats, 14.5% Seats won 30 27 18 Seat change -15 -1 +3 Percentage 31.2% 27.4% 18.5%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Uwe Barth Astrid Rothe-Beinlich Party FDP Greens Last election 0 seats, 3.6% 0 seats, 5.6% Seats won 7 6 Seat change +7 +6 Percentage 7.6% 6.2%
Minister-President before election Dieter Althaus CDU Elected Minister-President Christine Lieberknecht CDU

Thuringia held state elections on 30 August 2009, the same day as the Saarland and Saxony state elections. The election established the composition of the Landtag of Thuringia (Thuringia's parliament). According to the preliminary results, The Left and Social Democratic Party (SPD) together held a bare majority of seats, but a grand coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and SPD was considered possible. The CDU and SPD formed a coalition seven weeks after the election.

Results

Template:Thuringia state election, 2009 Turnout was 56.2%

Popular Vote CDU   31.23% DIE LINKE   27.40% SPD   18.53% FDP   7.64% B'90/GRÜNE   6.16% NPD   4.31% FW   3.87% Other   0.86%

Landtag seats CDU   34.09% DIE LINKE   30.68% SPD   20.45% FDP   7.95% B'90/GRÜNE   6.82%

Aftermath

CDU's leader, Dieter Althaus, resigned in the wake of the election defeat, saying he was taking responsibility for the his party's losing its absolute majority. However, it had also been noted that his remaining in office was a stumbling block to a coalition with the SPD. Both parties preferred that coalition to an SPD-Left-Green coalition: the CDU because such a coalition would leave them in opposition, and the SPD because of personal animosity between its leader, Christoph Matschie, and The Left leader Bodo Ramelow. In the end, a grand coalition of CDU and SPD was formed with new CDU leader Christine Lieberknecht as Minister-President.

Prior election

In the 2004 election, Minister-President Dieter Althaus was elected to a full term, having replaced Bernhard Vogel prior to the election. Althaus and his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) won an absolute majority of 45 out of 88 seats.

Party	Party List votes	Vote percentage	Total Seats	Seat percentage
Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	434,088	43.0%	45	51.1%
Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS)	263,717	26.1%	28	31.8%
Social Democratic Party (SPD)	146,297	14.5%	15	17.0%
Alliance '90/The Greens	45,649	4.5%	0	0.0%
Free Democratic Party (FDP)	36,483	3.6%	0	0.0%
Free Voters in Thuringia	26,302	2.6%	0	0.0%
The Republicans	19,797	2.0%	0	0.0%
National Democratic Party (NPD)	15,695	1.6%	0	0.0%
All Others	22,549	2.2%	0	0.0%
Totals	1,010,578	100.0%	88	100.0%

Opinion polling

The following opinion polls have been conducted during the campaign:

Institut	Datum	CDU	The Left	SPD	Green	FDP	Rights	Other
Institut für Marktforschung	22.08.2009	37%	23%	20%	5%	9%	3%	3%
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	21.08.2009	35%	25%	18%	5%	10%	–	7%
Infratest dimap	20.08.2009	34%	24%	19%	6%	8%	4%	5%
Infratest dimap	12.08.2009	34%	24%	20%	6%	9%	3%	4%
Forsa	29.07.2009	40%	24%	16%	6%	6%	3%	5%
Infratest dimap	25.06.2009	36%	24%	18%	6%	9%	3%	4%
Institut für Marktforschung	25.05.2009	36%	23%	23%	5%	8%	3%	2%
Infratest dimap	14.05.2009	39%	25%	20%	5%	6%	2%	3%
Infratest dimap	25.03.2009	36%	25%	20%	5%	8%	–	6%
GESS	10.03.2009	39%	25%	18%	4%	8%	–	6%
Forsa	22.01.2009	39%	28%	16%	5%	5%	4%	3%