# Politics of Thuringia

The Politics of Thuringia takes place within a framework of a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic, where the Federal Government of Germany exercises sovereign rights with certain powers reserved to the states of Germany including Thuringia. The four main parties, following the 2024 elections, are the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), the centre-right Christian Democratic Union, the populist left Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), and the left-wing Left Party.
Every five years, all Germans residing in the State over the age of 18 elect the members of the Landtag of Thuringia. This regional parliament or legislature then elects the Minister-President and confirms the cabinet members.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is currently largest party in the Landtag following the 2024 Thuringian state election.
Thuringia is notable for being the first and only state in Germany where The Left (Die Linke) and the Alternative for Germany (AfD) have seen its first-ever first place finish in a state election. Die Linke in 2019 and the AfD in 2024.
Thuringia in 1930 saw the first Nazi to hold a ministerial-level post at any level in Germany, with Wilhelm Frick as state Minister of the Interior.

## List of Minister Presidents of Thuringia

* 1990 - 1992: Karl Steinhoff (CDU)
* 1992 - 2003: Bernhard Vogel (CDU)
* 2003 - 2009: Dieter Althaus (CDU)
* 2009 - 2014: Christine Lieberknecht (CDU)
* 2014 - 2020: Bodo Ramelow (Left)
* 2020: Thomas Kemmerich (FDP)
* 2020 - 2024: Bodo Ramelow (Left)
* Since 2024: Mario Voigt (CDU)

## Landtag of Thurinigia
### Party Strength in Landtag

| Election year | Total seats | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won |
| Election year | Total seats | CDU | SPD | PDS | FDP | Grüne | Linke | AfD | BSW |
| 1990 | 89 | 44 | 21 | 9 | 9 | 6 | | | |
| 1994 | 88 | 42 | 29 | 17 | | | | |
| 1999 | 88 | 49 | 18 | 21 | | | | | |
| 2004 | 88 | 45 | 15 | 28 | | | | | |
| 2009 | 88 | 30 | 18 | | 7 | 6 | 27 | | |
| 2014 | 91 | 34 | 12 | | | 6 | 28 | 11 | |
| 2019 | 90 | 21 | 8 | | 5 | 5 | 29 | 22 | |
| 2024 | 88 | 23 | 6 | | | | 12 | 32 | 15 |

### State Landtag Compositions

* 1990 Thuringian state election
* 1994 Thuringian state election
* 1999 Thuringian state election
* 2004 Thuringian state election
* 2009 Thuringian state election
* 2014 Thuringian state election
* 2019 Thuringian state election
* 2024 Thuringian state election

### State Election Result Maps

* 1990 Thuringian state election - Black is CDU
* 1994 Thuringian state election - Black is CDU, Red is SPD
* 1999 Thuringian state election - Black is CDU
* 2004 Thuringian state election - Black is CDU, Pink is Left
* 2009 Thuringian state election - Black is CDU, Pink is Left, Red is SPD
* 2014 Thuringian state election - Black is CDU, Pink is Left, Red is SPD
* 2019 Thuringian state election - Black is CDU, Blue is AfD, Pink is Left, Red is SPD
* 2024 Thuringian state election - Blue is AfD, Black is CDU, Pink is Left

### Constituencies in the Landtag

| No | Constituency | Member | 2024 | 2019 | 2014 | 2009 | 2004 | 1999 | 1994 |
| 1 | Eichsfeld I | Thadäus König | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 2 | Eichsfeld II | Christina Tasch | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 3 | Nordhausen I | Joerg Prophet | AfD | Left | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 4 | Nordhausen II | Kerstin Düben-Schaumann | AfD | Left | Left | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 5 | Wartburgkreis I | Uwe Krell | AfD | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 6 | Wartburgkreis II – Eisenach | Ulrike Jary | CDU | CDU | CDU | Left | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 7 | Wartburgkreis III | Marcus Malsch | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 8 | Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis I | Jonas Urbach | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 9 | Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis II | Stefan Möller | AfD | AfD | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 10 | Kyffhäuserkreis I – Eichsfeld III | Stefan Schard | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 11 | Kyffhäuserkreis II | Jens Cotta | AfD | AfD | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 12 | Schmalkalden-Meiningen I | Vicien Rottstedt | AfD | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 13 | Schmalkalden-Meiningen II | Jan Abicht | AfD | AfD | CDU | Left | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 14 | Gotha I | Marcel Kramer | AfD | AfD | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 15 | Gotha II | Stephan Steinbrück | AfD | SPD | SPD | SPD | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 16 | Sömmerda I – Gotha III | Daniel Haseloff | AfD | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 17 | Sömmerda II | Torsten Czuppon | AfD | AfD | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 18 | Hildburghausen I – Schmalkalden-Meiningen III | Torsten Czuppon | AfD | AfD | CDU | Left | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 19 | Sonneberg I | Jürgen Treutler | AfD | AfD | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 20 | Hildburghausen II – Sonneberg II | Melanie Berger | AfD | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 21 | Suhl – Schmalkalden-Meiningen IV | Torsten Czuppon | AfD | Left | Left | Left | PDS | CDU | CDU |
| 22 | Ilm-Kreis I | Andreas Bühl | CDU | CDU | CDU | Left | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 23 | Ilm-Kreis II | Olaf Kießling | AfD | AfD | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 24 | Erfurt I | Sascha Castles | AfD | Left | Left | Left | PDS | CDU | CDU |
| 25 | Erfurt II | Torsten Czuppon | CDU | Left | Left | Left | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 26 | Erfurt III | Bodo Ramelow | Left | Left | CDU | Left | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 27 | Erfurt IV | Torsten Czuppon | AfD | Left | Left | Left | PDS | CDU | CDU |
| 28 | Saalfeld-Rudolstadt I | Thomas Benninghaus | AfD | AfD | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 29 | Saalfeld-Rudolstadt II | Denis Häußer | AfD | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 30 | Weimarer Land I – Saalfeld-Rudolstadt III | Torsten Czuppon | AfD | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 31 | Weimar I – Weimarer Land II | Peter Gerhardt | AfD | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 32 | Weimar II | Ulrike Grosse-Röthig | Left | Left | CDU | Left | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 33 | Saale-Orla-Kreis I | Uwe Thrum | AfD | AfD | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 34 | Saale-Orla-Kreis II | Ringo Mühlmann | AfD | CDU | CDU | Left | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 35 | Saale-Holzland-Kreis I | Stephan Tiesler | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 36 | Saale-Holzland-Kreis II | Wiebke Muhsal | AfD | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 37 | Jena I | Jens Thomas | Left | Left | Left | SPD | CDU | CDU | SPD |
| 38 | Jena II | Lena Saniye Güngör | Left | Left | Left | Left | CDU | CDU | SPD |
| 39 | Greiz I | Martina Schweinsburg | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 40 | Greiz II | Christian Tischner | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 41 | Gera I | Torsten Czuppon | AfD | Left | Left | Left | PDS | CDU | CDU |
| 42 | Gera II | Wolfganf Lauerwald | AfD | AfD | Left | Left | PDS | CDU | CDU |
| 43 | Altenburger Land I | Thomas Hoffmann | AfD | AfD | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 44 | Altenburger Land II | Torben Braga | AfD | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |

## Constituencies in the Bundestag

| No | Constituency | Member | 2021 | Voters | 2017 | 2013 | 2009 | 2005 | 2002 | 1998 | 1994 | 1990 |
| 188 | Eichsfeld – Nordhausen – Kyffhäuserkreis | Manfred Grund | CDU | 209,203 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU |
| 189 | Eisenach – Wartburgkreis – Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis | Klaus Stöber | AfD | 212,267 | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | SPD | SPD | CDU | CDU |
| 190 | Jena – Sömmerda – Weimarer Land I | Holger Becker | SPD | 198,697 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | SPD | CDU | CDU |
| 191 | Gotha – Ilm-Kreis | Marcus Bühl | AfD | 190,519 | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | SPD | SPD | CDU | CDU |
| 192 | Erfurt – Weimar – Weimarer Land II | Carsten Schneider | SPD | 217,944 | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | Created for 2005 election | Created for 2005 election | Created for 2005 election | Created for 2005 election |
| 193 | Gera – Greiz – Altenburger Land | Stephan Brandner | AfD | 229,588 | CDU | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | SPD | CDU | CDU |
| 194 | Saalfeld-Rudolstadt – Saale-Holzland-Kreis – Saale-Orla-Kreis | Michael Kaufmann | AfD | 219,437 | CDU | CDU | CDU | SPD | SPD | Created for 2002 election | Created for 2002 election | Created for 2002 election |
| 195 | Suhl – Schmalkalden-Meiningen – Hildburghausen – Sonneberg | Frank Ullrich | SPD | 230,071 | CDU | CDU | Left | SPD | SPD | SPD | CDU | CDU |

### Bundestag election results

| Election year | % won | % won | % won | % won | % won | % won | % won | % won | % won | % won |
| Election year | % won | CDU | SPD | PDS | FDP | Grüne | NDP | Linke | AfD | BSW |
| 1990 | 100 | 45.2 | 21.9 | 8.3 | 14.6 | 6.1 | | | | |
| 1994 | 100 | 41.0 | 30.2 | 17.2 | 4.1 | 4.9 | | | | |
| 1998 | 100 | 28.9 | 34.5 | 21.2 | 3.4 | 3.9 | | | | |
| 2002 | 100 | 29.4 | 39.9 | 17.0 | 5.9 | 4.3 | | | | |
| 2005 | 100 | 25.7 | 29.8 | | 7.9 | 4.8 | 3.7 | 26.1 | | |
| 2009 | 100 | 31.2 | 17.6 | | 9.8 | 6.0 | | 28.8 | | |
| 2013 | 100 | 38.8 | 16.1 | | 2.6 | 4.9 | | 23.4 | 6.2 | |
| 2017 | 100 | 28.8 | 13.2 | | 7.8 | 4.1 | | 16.9 | 22.7 | |
| 2021 | 100 | 16.9 | 23.4 | | 9.0 | 6.6 | | 11.4 | 24.0 | |
| 2025 | 100 | 18.6 | 8.8 | | 2.8 | 4.2 | | 15.2 | 38.6 | 9.4 |