1998 Lower Saxony state election
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All 157 seats in the Landtag of Lower Saxony 79 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 4,314,932 (73.8%)![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Results for the single-member constituencies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1998 Lower Saxony state election was held on 1 March 1998 to elect the members of the 14th Landtag of Lower Saxony. The incumbent Social Democratic Party (SPD) government led by Minister-President Gerhard Schröder was returned with an increased majority. Schröder was subsequently re-elected as minister-president.
Schröder took the election as a test run for a potential federal election in September. He said that if the SPD received less than 42 percent of the vote, he would rule out a bid to become the party's chancellor candidate. Achieving 47.9 percent of the vote, he later announced his (successful) candidacy and went on to form the first federal SPD-led government since 1982.[1]
Parties
The table below lists parties represented in the 13th Landtag of Lower Saxony.
Name | Ideology | Leader(s) | 1994 result | |||
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Votes (%) | Seats | |||||
SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands | Social democracy | Gerhard Schröder | 44.3% | 81 / 161 | |
CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands | Christian democracy | Christian Wulff | 36.4% | 67 / 161 | |
Grüne | Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen | Green politics | 7.4% | 13 / 161 |
Election result
Party | Votes | % | +/- | Seats | +/- | Seats % | |
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Social Democratic Party (SPD) | 2,068,477 | 47.9 | ![]() | 83 | ![]() | 52.9 | |
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | 1,549,227 | 35.9 | ![]() | 62 | ![]() | 39.5 | |
Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) | 304,193 | 7.0 | ![]() | 12 | ![]() | 7.6 | |
Free Democratic Party (FDP) | 209,610 | 4.9 | ![]() | 0 | ±0 | 0 | |
The Republicans (REP) | 118,975 | 2.8 | ![]() | 0 | ±0 | 0 | |
Others | 64,450 | 1.5 | 0 | ±0 | 0 | ||
Total | 4,314,932 | 100.0 | 157 | ![]() | |||
Voter turnout | 73.8 | ![]() |
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References
- ^ Pulzer, Peter. "The German Federal Election of 1998." West European Politics July 1999: 241–249.
Sources
- The Federal Returning Officer
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