1958 Hessian state election

1958 Hessian state election
	23 November 1958
All 96 seats in the Landtag of Hesse; 49 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	2,680,548 (82.3% 0.1pp)
	Results for the single-member constituencies.
Government before election; Second Zinn cabinet; SPD–GB/BHE	Government after election ; Third Zinn cabinet; SPD–GB/BHE

The 1958 Hessian state election was held on 23 November 1958 to elect the 4th Landtag of Hesse. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and All-German Bloc/League of Expellees (GB/BHE) led by Minister-President Georg-August Zinn.

The election saw major losses for the Free Democratic Party (FDP) matched by gains for the SPD and Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which established itself as the major opposition to the SPD-led government. The FDP finished on 10%, its worst result since the inaugural postwar elections in 1946. The SPD's coalition partner the GB/BHE remained steady on 7%, and the government was renewed for a second term.

Electoral system

The Landtag was elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 48 members were elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting, and 48 then allocated using compensatory proportional representation. A single ballot was used for both. An electoral threshold of 5% of valid votes is applied to the Landtag; parties that fall below this threshold are ineligible to receive seats.

Background

In the previous election held on 28 November 1954, the SPD suffered small losses and fell to 43%, but remained clearly the largest party. The CDU emerged as the second largest party by a small margin as the FDP fell to 20%. The GB/BHE ran independently and won 8%, subsequently forming a coalition with the SPD.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 3rd Landtag of Hesse.

Name			Ideology	Lead candidate	1954 result
Name			Ideology	Lead candidate	Votes (%)	Seats
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Georg-August Zinn	42.6%	44 / 96
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Wilhelm Fay	24.1%	24 / 96
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	Heinrich Kohl	20.5%	21 / 96
	GB/BHE	All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights Gesamtdeutscher Block/Bund der Heimatvertriebenen und Entrechteten	National conservatism	Gotthard Franke	7.7%	7 / 96

Results


Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats
Party		Votes	%	+/–	Con.	List	Total	+–
	Social Democratic Party	1,235,631	46.91	+4.30	42	6	48	+4
	Christian Democratic Union	843,041	32.00	+7.87	6	26	32	+8
	Free Democratic Party	250,310	9.50	–11.02	0	9	9	–12
	All-German Bloc/League of Expellees	193,996	7.36	–0.33	0	7	7	0
	German Party	93,260	3.54	+2.37	0	0	0	0
	Deutsche Reichspartei	16,178	0.61	New	0	0	0	New
	German Community	1,093	0.04	New	0	0	0	New
	German People's Party	466	0.02	New	0	0	0	New
	Independents	152	0.01	+0.00	0	–	0	0
Total		2,634,127	100.00	–	48	48	96	0

Valid votes		2,634,127	98.26
Invalid/blank votes		46,691	1.74
Total votes		2,680,818	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		3,257,513	82.30

External links

"The Election to the Hessian Landtag, 23 November 1958" (PDF). Parliamentary Data Bank of the Hessian Landtag (in German). February 1959. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
"State election in Hesse, November 23, 1958". Hessian Regional History Information System (in German). Retrieved 17 September 2023.

Notes

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Elections and referendums in Hesse
State elections	1919 1921 1924 1927 1931 1932 1933 1946 (Jun) 1946 (Dec) 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2008 2009 2013 2018 2023
Waldeck	1919 1922 1925
Local elections	1946 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2006 2011 2016 2021 2026
Referendums	1926 2018
See also: Elections and referendums in Germany