# 2006 Rhineland-Palatinate state election

The 2006 Rhineland-Palatinate state election was held on 26 March 2006 to elect the members of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate. The incumbent coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Kurt Beck retained its majority. However, as the SPD won an outright majority, the FDP chose not to continue the coalition. Beck was subsequently re-elected as Minister-President.

## Campaign and issues

The election was one of the first held under the grand coalition federal government. Thus, the SPD and CDU did not attack each other as harshly as previously. The SPD was expected to benefit from the personality of Kurt Beck, while the CDU ran again with their leader Christoph Böhr, who had already lost the 2001 election.

## Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate.
| Name | Name | Name | Ideology | Leader(s) | 2001 result | 2001 result |
| Name | Name | Name | Ideology | Leader(s) | Votes (%) | Seats |
| | SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands | Social democracy | Kurt Beck | 44.8% | 49 / 101 |
| | CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands | Christian democracy | Christoph Böhr | 35.3% | 38 / 101 |
| | FDP | Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei | Classical liberalism | Hans-Artur Bauckhage | 7.8% | 8 / 101 |
| | Grüne | Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen | Green politics | Ise Thomas | 5.2% | 6 / 101 |

## Opinion polling

| Polling firm | Fieldwork date | Sample size | SPD | CDU | FDP | Grüne | WASG | Others | Lead |
| 2006 state election | 26 Mar 2006 | – | 45.6 | 32.8 | 8.0 | 4.6 | 2.6 | 6.4 | 12.8 |
| Emnid | 7–18 Mar 2006 | 500 | 43 | 35 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| Forschungsgruppe Wahlen | 13–16 Mar 2006 | ~1,000 | 43 | 36 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Infratest dimap | 13–15 Mar 2006 | 1,000 | 43 | 35 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| Forsa | 9–10 Mar 2006 | 1,001 | 39 | 34 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| Infratest dimap | 25–28 Feb 2006 | 1,000 | 42 | 35 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 7 |
| Psephos | 21–23 Feb 2006 | 1,006 | 42 | 38 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| Infratest dimap | 30 Jan–1 Feb 2006 | 1,000 | 42 | 36 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| Forsa | 17–20 Jan 2006 | 1,002 | 37 | 37 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 4 | Tie |
| Infratest dimap | 8–12 Dec 2005 | 1,000 | 39 | 37 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Psephos | 22–24 Nov 2005 | 1,003 | 41 | 37 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Infratest dimap | 29 Aug–4 Sep 2005 | 1,000 | 35 | 43 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Psephos | 11–15 Aug 2005 | 1,002 | 41 | 39 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Psephos | 23–26 May 2005 | 1,001 | 39 | 40 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| Infratest dimap | 7–13 Mar 2005 | 1,000 | 38 | 40 | 8 | 8 | – | 6 | 1 |
| Psephos | 15–17 Feb 2005 | 1,005 | 41 | 38 | 8 | 6 | – | 7 | 3 |
| Infratest dimap | 7–12 Dec 2004 | 1,000 | 38 | 39 | 8 | 8 | – | 7 | 1 |
| Psephos | 3–6 Nov 2004 | 1,003 | 39 | 39 | 9 | 6 | – | 7 | Tie |
| Infratest dimap | 7 Oct 2004 | 1,000 | 36 | 37 | 10 | 9 | – | 8 | 1 |
| Psephos | 24–27 Aug 2004 | 1,002 | 37 | 40 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 3 |
| Infratest dimap | 24–29 May 2004 | 1,000 | 34 | 45 | 8 | 8 | – | 6 | 11 |
| Psephos | 11–13 May 2004 | 1,003 | 37 | 43 | 8 | 6 | – | 6 | 6 |
| Infratest dimap | 8–13 Mar 2004 | 1,000 | 32 | 48 | 8 | 7 | – | 5 | 16 |
| Psephos | 10–13 Feb 2004 | 1,000 | 39 | 42 | 8 | 6 | – | 5 | 3 |
| Infratest dimap | 1–6 Dec 2003 | 1,000 | 35 | 45 | 8 | 7 | – | 5 | 10 |
| Psephos | 5–7 Nov 2003 | 1,006 | 35 | 45 | 8 | 7 | – | ? | 10 |
| Infratest dimap | 23–27 Sep 2003 | 1,000 | 35 | 46 | 7 | 7 | – | 5 | 11 |
| Psephos | 8–11 Aug 2003 | 1,001 | 39 | 43 | 8 | 6 | – | ? | 4 |
| Infratest dimap | 16–21 Jun 2003 | 1,000 | 36 | 47 | 7 | 6 | – | 4 | 11 |
| Psephos | 14–17 May 2003 | 1,005 | 37 | 45 | 7 | 8 | – | 3 | 8 |
| Infratest dimap | 10–15 Mar 2003 | 1,000 | 33 | 47 | 7 | 8 | – | 5 | 14 |
| Psephos | 10–13 Feb 2003 | 1,002 | 36 | 46 | 7 | 8 | – | 2 | 10 |
| Infratest dimap | 9–14 Dec 2002 | 1,001 | 35 | 45 | 7 | 7 | – | 6 | 10 |
| Psephos | 12–14 Nov 2002 | 1,005 | 40 | 42 | 7 | 7 | – | 4 | 2 |
| Infratest dimap | 2–7 Sep 2002 | 1,000 | 45 | 35 | 13 | 3 | – | 4 | 10 |
| Psephos | 1–3 Aug 2002 | 1,003 | 42 | 39 | 10 | 4 | – | ? | 3 |
| Infratest dimap | 27 May–1 Jun 2002 | 1,000 | 41 | 38 | 12 | 5 | – | 4 | 3 |
| Psephos | 6–10 May 2002 | 1,004 | 40 | 38 | 10 | 6 | – | ? | 2 |
| Infratest dimap | 4–9 Mar 2002 | 1,000 | 42 | 39 | 10 | 4 | – | 5 | 3 |
| Psephos | 1–5 Feb 2002 | 1,002 | 41 | 40 | 9 | 5 | – | 5 | 1 |
| Infratest dimap | 10–15 Dec 2001 | 1,000 | 43 | 39 | 10 | 3 | – | 5 | 4 |
| Psephos | 5–9 Nov 2001 | 1,002 | 45 | 36 | 9 | 5 | – | 5 | 9 |
| Infratest dimap | 10–15 Sep 2001 | 1,000 | 46 | 38 | 8 | 5 | – | 3 | 8 |
| Psephos | 27–30 Aug 2001 | 1,004 | 45 | 37 | 8 | ? | – | ? | 8 |
| Infratest dimap | 21–26 May 2001 | 1,000 | 46 | 36 | 7 | 5 | – | 6 | 10 |
| Psephos | 4–10 May 2001 | 1,003 | 46 | 35 | 9 | 5 | – | 5 | 11 |
| 2001 state election | 25 Mar 2001 | – | 44.8 | 35.3 | 7.8 | 5.2 | – | 6.9 | 9.5 |

## Election result

Summary of the 26 March 2006 election results for the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate :
| Party | Party | Votes | % | +/- | Seats | +/- | Seats % |
| | Social Democratic Party (SPD) | 799,377 | 45.6 | 0.8 | 53 | 4 | 52.5 |
| | Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | 574,329 | 32.8 | 2.5 | 38 | 0 | 37.6 |
| | Free Democratic Party (FDP) | 140,865 | 8.0 | 0.2 | 10 | 2 | 9.9 |
| | Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) | 81,411 | 4.6 | 0.6 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| | Labour and Social Justice (WASG) | 44,826 | 2.6 | New | 0 | New | 0 |
| | The Republicans (REP) | 29,919 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 0 | ±0 | 0 |
| | Free Voters (FW) | 27,652 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0 | ±0 | 0 |
| | National Democratic Party (NPD) | 21,056 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0 | ±0 | 0 |
| | Others | 33,675 | 1.9 | | 0 | ±0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 1,753,110 | 100.0 | | 101 | ±0 | |
| Voter turnout | Voter turnout | | 58.2 | 4.0 | | | |
Popular Vote
SPD
45.60%
CDU
32.76%
FDP
8.04%
B'90/GRÜNE
4.64%
WASG
2.56%
Other
6.41% :
Landtag seats
SPD
52.48%
CDU
37.62%
FDP
9.90% :

## Sources

* Rhineland-Palatinate State Statistics Office