1978 Hessian state election

German state election 1978 Hessian state election Hesse parliamentary no 1974 Hessian state election 1974 1982 Hessian state election 1982 All 110 seats in the Landtag of Hesse 56 8 October 1978 3,450,090 (87.7% 2.9pp) KAS-Dregger, Alfred-Bild-14626-1.jpg 110 150 110 0 0 Alfred Dregger Christian Democratic Union of Germany 53 seats, 47.3% 53 0 1,575,445 46.0% 1.3pp -Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F055060-0007A, Köln, SPD-Parteitag, Börner-2.jpg 130 150 110 10 15 Holger Börner Social Democratic Party of Germany 49 seats, 43.2% 50 1 1,515,953 44.3% 1.1pp Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F049586-0009, Frankfurt, FDP-Bundesparteitag, Karry (cropped).jpg 120 150 110 0 10 Ekkehard Gries Free Democratic Party (Germany) 8 seats, 7.4% 7 1 225,044 6.6% 0.8pp 1978 Hessian state election.svg 250px Results for the single-member constituencies. Government First Börner cabinet SPD–FDP Government after election Second Börner cabinet SPD–FDP The 1978 Hessian state election was held on 8 October 1978 to elect the 9th Landtag of Hesse. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Holger Börner. The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) remained the largest party with 46%, but the SPD narrowed the gap with a swing of about one percentage point. The FDP recorded a small decline. Overall, the incumbent coalition retained its majority with a net shift of one seat from the FDP to the SPD, and was renewed for a third term. Electoral system The Landtag was elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 55 members were elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting, and 55 then allocated using compensatory proportional representation. A single ballot was used for both. An electoral threshold of 5% of valid votes is applied to the Landtag; parties that fall below this threshold are ineligible to receive seats. Background 1974 Hessian state election In the previous election held on 27 October 1974, the CDU overtook the SPD to become the largest party in Hesse for the first time on a swing of 7.6 percentage points. Despite losses, the incumbent SPD and FDP coalition narrowly retained its majority and was renewed for a second term. On 3 October 1976, incumbent Minister-President Albert Osswald resigned after a financial scandal involving public bank Helaba and was replaced by Kassel's MdB Holger Börner, and the social-liberal coalition continued. A hot topic was the city of Lahn in Central Hesse, which had been created by the merger of the cities of Giessen and Wetzlar, that were 15 kilometers apart. Osswald, a former Mayor of Giessen, was a supporter of the new city, which was however unpopular with the public, thus leading to SPD losing some support in the center of the state. Despite Lahn being the creation of his party, Börner announced that he would eliminate Lahn and restore the status quo with Giessen and Wetzlar.1978-10-01 Hessen-Wahl: »Es ist unser Kopf, der wackelt« de Der Spiegel https://www.spiegel.de/politik/hessen-wahl-es-ist-unser-kopf-der-wackelt-a-d88eb730-0002-0001-0000-000040605649 2023-10-17 2195-13492019-08-01 Stadt Lahn: Schnelles Ende einer Großstadt https://www.giessener-allgemeine.de/hessen/giessen-hessen-experiment-stadt-lahn-scheiterte-12877327.html 2023-10-17 www.giessener-allgemeine.de de Parties The table below lists parties represented in the 8th Landtag of Hesse. Name Ideology Leadcandidate 1974 result Votes (%) Seats CDU Christian Democratic Union of GermanyChristlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands Christian democracy Alfred Dregger 47.3% 53 110 Christian Democratic Union of Germany SPD Social Democratic Party of GermanySozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands Social democracy Holger Börner 43.2% 49 110 Social Democratic Party of Germany FDP Free Democratic PartyFreie Demokratische Partei Classical liberalism Ekkehard Gries 7.4% 8 110 Free Democratic Party (Germany) Results Con. List Total +– Christian Democratic Union 1575445 –1.30 29 24 53 0 Social Democratic Party 1515953 +1.13 26 24 50 +1 Free Democratic Party 225044 –0.82 0 7 7 –1 Green List Hesse 37758 New 0 0 0 New Green Action Future 30787 New 0 0 0 New German Communist Party 14531 –0.46 0 0 0 0 National Democratic Party 12507 –0.65 0 0 0 0 Free Voters 7452 New 0 0 0 New Communist League of West Germany 2638 –0.01 0 0 0 0 European Workers' Party 511 New 0 0 0 New #003366 Green List Environmental Protection 274 New 0 0 0 New Justice Party 39 New 0 0 0 New Action Group Fourth Party 12 New 0 0 0 New Independents 16 0.00 0 – 0 0 0 27123 3933990 External links https://starweb.hessen.de/cache/stanzwahlergebnis/1978wahlergebnis.pdf Final Results for the Landtag election of 8 October 1978 24 October 1978 15 September 2023 de Parliamentary Data Bank of the Hessian Landtag https://www.lagis-hessen.de/de/subjects/xsrec/current/1/sn/edb?q=YToxOntzOjY6InBlcnNvbiI7czoxMDoiMTAzMDU3OTUyMCI7fQ== Elections for the 9th Hessian state parliament, October 8, 1978 15 September 2023 de Hessian Regional History Information System https://starweb.hessen.de/cache/hessen/Hessen_Landtagswahl_Statistik1978.pdf The election of the Hessian Landtag on 8 October 1978 1979 15 September 2023 de Parliamentary Data Bank of the Hessian Landtag Notes References Category:Elections in Hesse Category:October 1978 in Europe Category:1970s in Hesse Category:1978 elections in Germany Category:1978 in West Germany