# 2017 Saarland state election

The 2017 Saarland state election was held on 26 March 2017 to elect the members of the Landtag of Saarland. The incumbent grand coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Social Democratic Party (SPD) led by Minister-President Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer was returned with an increased majority.
Even though the Saarland is the second smallest state by population and does not represent Germany as a whole demographically, the election proved to be of pivotal importance to the following state elections and in particular the federal election later that year. Then-SPD leader Martin Schulz led the party to new heights in early 2017 and polls showed the SPD capturing the Minister-President's office in this first election of the year, but the upset CDU victory marked the beginning of a decline in the polls both nationally and in other state elections. This decline culminated in heavy losses for the SPD in Schleswig-Holstein, in North Rhine-Westphalia and, ultimately, in the 2017 German federal election.

## Background

The 2012 state election was called after the collapse of the Jamaica coalition of the CDU, Free Democratic Party (FDP) and The Greens. The election saw the collapse of the FDP, a downswing for The Left and Greens, gains for the SPD, and the entry of the Pirates. Afterwards, the CDU and SPD formed a grand coalition.

## Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Saarland.
| Name | Name | Name | Ideology | Leader(s) | 2012 result | 2012 result | since 2015 |
| Name | Name | Name | Ideology | Leader(s) | Votes (%) | Seats | since 2015 |
| | CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands | Christian democracy | Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer | 35.2% | 19 / 51 | 19 / 51 |
| | SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands | Social democracy | Anke Rehlinger | 30.6% | 17 / 51 | 18 / 51 |
| | Linke | The Left Die Linke | Democratic socialism | Oskar Lafontaine | 16.1% | 9 / 51 | 8 / 51 |
| | Piraten | Pirate Party Germany Piratenpartei Deutschland | Pirate politics | Gerd Rainer Weber | 7.4% | 4 / 51 | 3 / 51 |
| | Grüne | Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen | Green politics | Hubert Ulrich Barbara Meyer-Gluche | 5.0% | 2 / 51 | 3 / 51 |

## Opinion polling
### Party polling

| Publication date | Poll source | | | | | | | | Others | Lead |
| 26 March 2017 | 2017 state election | 40.7 | 29.6 | 12.9 | 0.7 | 4.0 | 3.3 | 6.2 | 1.9 | 11.1 |
| 23 Mar 2017 | Forschungsgruppe Wahlen | 37 | 32 | 12.5 | – | 4.5 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 |
| 22 Mar 2017 | INSA | 35 | 33 | 13 | – | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| 17 Mar 2017 | Forschungsgruppe Wahlen | 37 | 32 | 12 | – | 4 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 5 |
| 16 Mar 2017 | Infratest dimap | 35 | 34 | 13 | – | 4.5 | 3 | 6.5 | 4 | 1 |
| 9 Mar 2017 | Forsa | 34 | 33 | 13 | – | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 1 |
| 7 Mar 2017 | INSA | 36 | 33 | 12 | – | 4 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| 26 Jan 2017 | Infratest dimap | 38 | 26 | 14 | – | 5 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 12 |
| 13 Jan 2017 | INSA | 35 | 24 | 16 | – | 6 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 11 |
| 15 Nov 2016 | Forsa | 37 | 26 | 15 | – | 6 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 11 |
| 11 May 2016 | Infratest dimap | 34 | 29 | 12 | – | 7 | 4 | 11 | 3 | 5 |
| 31 Mar 2015 | Infratest dimap | 40 | 33 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| 25 May 2014 | 2014 European election | 34.9 | 34.4 | 6.6 | 1.7 | 6.0 | 2.2 | 6.8 | 7.4 | 0.5 |
| 14 May 2014 | Infratest dimap | 37 | 34 | 13 | 2 | 5 | – | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| 22 Sep 2013 | 2013 federal election | 37.8 | 31.0 | 10.0 | 2.6 | 5.7 | 3.8 | 5.2 | 3.9 | 6.8 |
| 7 May 2013 | Infratest dimap | 39 | 36 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| 25 March 2012 | 2012 state election | 35.2 | 30.6 | 16.1 | 7.4 | 5.0 | 1.2 | – | 4.4 | 4.6 |

### Minister-President polling

| Publication date | Poll source | | | | None |
| Publication date | Poll source | Annegret Kramp-KarrenbauerCDU | Anke RehlingerSPD | Heiko MaasSPD | None |
| 23 Mar 2017 | Forschungsgruppe Wahlen | 53.0 | 34.0 | – | 13.0 |
| 17 Mar 2017 | Forschungsgruppe Wahlen | 55.0 | 31.0 | – | 14.0 |
| 16 Mar 2017 | Infratest dimap | 51.0 | 32.0 | – | 7.0 |
| 26 Jan 2017 | Infratest dimap | 60.0 | 23.0 | – | 9.0 |
| 15 Nov 2016 | Forsa | 54.0 | 19.0 | – | – |
| 11 May 2016 | Infratest dimap | 59.0 | 26.0 | – | 10.0 |
| 31 Mar 2015 | Infratest dimap | 62.0 | 18.0 | – | 9.0 |
| 14 May 2014 | Infratest dimap | 53.0 | – | 35.0 | 6.0 |
| 7 May 2013 | Infratest dimap | 53.0 | – | 36.0 | 7.0 |

## Election result

Summary of the 26 March 2017 election results for the Landtag of Saarland :
| Party | Party | Votes | % | +/- | Seats | +/- | Seats % |
| | Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | 217,263 | 40.7 | 5.5 | 24 | 5 | 47.1 |
| | Social Democratic Party (SPD) | 158,057 | 29.6 | 1.0 | 17 | 0 | 33.3 |
| | The Left (Linke) | 68,566 | 12.8 | 3.3 | 7 | 2 | 13.7 |
| | Alternative for Germany (AfD) | 32,971 | 6.2 | New | 3 | New | 5.9 |
| | Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) | 21,392 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | Free Democratic Party (FDP) | 17,419 | 3.3 | 2.1 | 0 | ±0 | 0 |
| | Family Party of Germany (FAMILIE) | 4,435 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0 | ±0 | 0 |
| | Pirate Party (Piraten) | 3,979 | 0.7 | 6.7 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | National Democratic Party (NPD) | 3,744 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0 | ±0 | 0 |
| | Others | 5,957 | 1.1 | | 0 | ±0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 533,783 | 100.0 | | 51 | ±0 | |
| Voter turnout | Voter turnout | | 69.7 | 8.1 | | | |
Popular Vote
CDU
40.70%
SPD
29.61%
DIE LINKE
12.85%
AfD
6.18%
B'90/GRÜNE
4.01%
FDP
3.26%
Other
1.12% :
Landtag seats
CDU
47.06%
SPD
33.33%
DIE LINKE
12.73%
AfD
5.88% :

## Outcome

Observers were surprised by the CDU's strong performance, as opinion polls predicted a close contest between the CDU and SPD. After the election, several commentators described the results as a boost for the September 2017 electoral prospects of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the CDU, and as a setback for SPD leader Martin Schulz.
As both the CDU and SPD refused to coalition with AfD, the CDU and SPD coalition reached an agreement to continue governing together after the election.