# 1999 Hessian state election

The 1999 Hessian state election was held on 7 February 1999 to elect the members of the 15th Landtag of Hesse. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens led by Minister-President Hans Eichel.
The government was unexpectedly defeated, with the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) winning a comfortable plurality and forming a one-seat majority coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FDP). This was despite prior opinion polling indicating the SPD and Greens would be re-elected comfortably and increase their majority. CDU leader Roland Koch was elected Minister-President by the Landtag in early April.

## Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Hesse.
| Name | Name | Name | Ideology | Leader(s) | 1995 result | 1995 result |
| Name | Name | Name | Ideology | Leader(s) | Votes (%) | Seats |
| | CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands | Christian democracy | Roland Koch | 39.2% | 45 / 110 |
| | SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands | Social democracy | Hans Eichel | 38.0% | 44 / 110 |
| | Grüne | Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen | Green politics | Priska Hinz Rupert von Plottnitz | 11.2% | 13 / 110 |
| | FDP | Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei | Classical liberalism | Ruth Wagner | 7.4% | 8 / 110 |

## Opinion polling

| Polling firm | Fieldwork date | Sample size | CDU | SPD | Grüne | FDP | Others | Lead |
| 1999 state election | 7 February 1999 | – | 43.4 | 39.4 | 7.2 | 5.1 | 4.9 | 4.0 |
| Polis | 30 Jan 1999 | 1,016 | 36 | 41 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 5 |
| Forschungsgruppe Wahlen | 25–28 Jan 1999 | 1,025 | 39 | 42 | 8.5 | 5.5 | 5 | 3 |
| Infratest dimap | 18–24 Jan 1999 | 1,000 | 37.5 | 42 | 10 | 7 | 3.5 | 4.5 |
| Forsa | 20 Jan 1999 | ? | 36 | 40 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 4 |
| Forsa | 14 Jan 1999 | ? | 37 | 38 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 1 |
| Infratest dimap | 4–10 Jan 1999 | 1,000 | 39 | 42 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| Forschungsgruppe Wahlen | 30 Nov–3 Dec 1998 | 1,011 | 37 | 45 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 8 |
| Forschungsgruppe Wahlen | 2–5 Nov 1998 | 1,021 | 38 | 43 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| 1995 state election | 19 February 1995 | – | 39.2 | 38.0 | 11.2 | 7.4 | 4.3 | 1.2 |

## Campaign

During the campaign, the CDU collected signatures opposing the federal government's plan to relax Germany's high standards for dual citizenship, which drew accusations of xenophobia.

## Election result

| Party | Party | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Party list | Party list | Party list | Party list | Total seats | +/- |
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | +/- | Seats | Total seats | +/- |
| | Christian Democratic Union | 1,265,942 | 45.34 | 34 | 1,215,783 | 43.42 | +4.26 | 16 | 50 | 5 |
| | Social Democratic Party | 1,158,663 | 41.50 | 21 | 1,102,544 | 39.37 | +1.40 | 25 | 46 | 2 |
| | Alliance 90/The Greens | 168,325 | 6.03 | 0 | 201,194 | 7.18 | -4.01 | 8 | 8 | 5 |
| | Free Democratic Party | 98,095 | 3.51 | 0 | 142,845 | 5.10 | -2.35 | 6 | 6 | 2 |
| | The Republicans | 79,273 | 2.84 | 0 | 75,114 | 2.68 | +0.70 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Human Environment Animal Protection Party | 2,056 | 0.07 | 0 | 12,856 | 0.46 | New | 0 | 0 | New |
| | League of Free Citizens | 8,760 | 0.31 | 0 | 10,811 | 0.39 | +0.08 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Free Voters | 405 | 0.01 | 0 | 10,057 | 0.36 | New | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Feminist Party of Germany | 1,745 | 0.06 | 0 | 6,691 | 0.24 | New | 0 | 0 | New |
| | National Democratic Party | 2,231 | 0.08 | 0 | 5,933 | 0.21 | -0.07 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Party of Bible-abiding Christians | 2,164 | 0.08 | 0 | 4,999 | 0.18 | -0.06 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | German Communist Party | 1,181 | 0.04 | 0 | 3,881 | 0.14 | +0.02 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Natural Law Party | 1,515 | 0.05 | 0 | 2,499 | 0.09 | -0.07 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Ecological Democratic Party | 138 | 0.00 | 0 | 2,053 | 0.07 | -0.12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Party of Willing Workers and Disadvantaged | 95 | 0.00 | 0 | 1,909 | 0.07 | New | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Civil Rights Movement Soliarity | 627 | 0.02 | 0 | 612 | 0.02 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | German Homeland Party | 91 | 0.00 | 0 | 591 | 0.02 | -0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Independents | 540 | 0.02 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 2,791,846 | 100.00 | 55 | 2,800,372 | 100.00 | | 55 | 110 | 0 |
| Invalid | Invalid | 53,740 | 1.89 | | 45,214 | 1.59 | | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | 2,845,586 | 66.45 | | 2,845,586 | 66.45 | +0.18 | | | |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | 4,282,397 | | | 4,282,397 | | | | | |