2003 Hessian state election

The 2003 Hessian state election was held on 2 February 2003 to elect the members of the Landtag of Hesse. The incumbent coalition government of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Roland Koch was returned with an increased majority. The CDU recorded a 5.4% swing in its favour, winning an absolute majority of seats. It subsequently formed government alone, with Roland Koch continuing in office.

2003 Hesse state election

2 February 2003
All 110 seats of the Landtag of Hesse 56 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	2,734,992 (64.6%) 1.8%
Leader Roland Koch Gerhard Bökel Party CDU SPD Last election 50 seats, 43.4% 46 seats, 39.4% Seats won 56 33 Seat change 6 13 Popular vote 1,333,863 795,576 Percentage 48.8% 29.1% Swing 5.4% 10.3%   Leader Evelin Schönhut-Keil Tarek Al-Wazir Ruth Wagner Party Green FDP Last election 8 seats, 7.2% 6 seats, 5.1% Seats won 12 9 Seat change 4 3 Popular vote 276,276 216,110 Percentage 10.1% 7.9% Swing 2.9% 2.8%
Minister-President before election Roland Koch CDU Elected Minister-President Roland Koch CDU

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Hesse.

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	1999 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Roland Koch	43.4%	50 / 110
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Gerhard Bökel	39.4%	46 / 110
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics	Evelin Schönhut-Keil Tarek Al-Wazir	7.2%	8 / 110
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	Ruth Wagner	5.1%	6 / 110

Opinion polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	CDU	SPD	Grüne	FDP	Others	Lead
2003 state election	2 February 2003	–	48.8	29.1	10.1	7.9	4.1	19.7
Forsa	31 Jan 2003	?	49	29	11	8	3	20
Forsa	20–24 Jan 2003	1,012	51	29	10	7	3	22
Forsa	13–18 Jan 2003	1,078	50	31	10	5	4	19
Infratest dimap	16–19 Jan 2003	1,000	48	31	11	7	3	17
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	13–16 Jan 2003	1,036	48	32	10	7	3	16
Forsa	6–10 Jan 2003	1,003	48	33	10	5	4	15
Infratest dimap	2–7 Jan 2003	1,000	47	33	10	5	5	14
Forsa	27 Dec–3 Jan 2003	1,120	47	32	12	5	4	15
Infratest dimap	2–4 Dec 2002	1,000	49	32	11	5	3	17
dimap	13 May 2002	?	45	35	6	9	5	10
Forsa	18 Jan 2001	?	40	39	8	7	6	1
Infratest dimap	28–31 Jan 2000	1,000	35	44	9	7	5	9
Ipos	19–21 Jan 2000	1,004	33	46	11	5	5	13
1999 state election	7 February 1999	–	43.4	39.4	7.2	5.1	4.9	4.0

Election result

Summary of the 2 February 2003 election results for the Landtag of Hesse

Party		Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-	Seats %
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	1,333,863	48.8	5.4	56	6	50.9
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	795,576	29.1	10.3	33	13	30.0
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	276,276	10.1	2.9	12	4	10.9
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	216,110	7.9	2.8	9	3	8.2
	The Republicans (REP)	34,563	1.3	1.4	0	±0	0
	Others	78,604	2.9		0	±0	0
Total		2,734,992	100.0		110	±0
Voter turnout			64.6	1.8

Popular Vote CDU   48.77% SPD   29.09% B'90/GRÜNE   10.10% FDP   7.90% REP   1.26% Other   2.87%

Landtag seats CDU   50.91% SPD   30.00% B'90/GRÜNE   10.91% FDP   8.18%

Sources

• The Federal Returning Officer