1974 Hessian state election

The 1974 Hessian state election was held on 27 October 1974 to elect the 8th Landtag of Hesse. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Albert Osswald.

1974 Hessian state election
27 October 1974
All 110 seats in the Landtag of Hesse
56 seats needed for a majority
Turnout3,264,209 (84.8% Increase 2.0pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
KAS-Dregger, Alfred-Bild-5037-1.jpg
Albert Osswald.jpg
Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F052015-0020, Kiel, FDP-Bundesparteitag, Karry.jpg
Candidate Alfred Dregger Albert Osswald Heinz-Herbert Karry
Party CDU SPD FDP
Last election 46 seats, 39.7% 53 seats, 45.9% 11 seats, 10.1%
Seats won 53 49 8
Seat change Increase 7 Decrease 4 Decrease 3
Popular vote 1,528,793 1,394,123 238,726
Percentage 47.3% 43.2% 7.4%
Swing Increase 7.6pp Decrease 2.7pp Decrease 2.7pp
Results for the single-member constituencies.
Government before election

Second Osswald cabinet
SPD–FDP

 Government after election

Third Osswald cabinet
SPD–FDP

The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) achieved a significant victory by becoming the largest party in Hesse for the first time. The state had long been considered a stronghold of the SPD. Despite this, the SPD and FDP retained a narrow majority between them and renewed their coalition for a second term.

Electoral system

The Landtag was elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 55 members were elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting, and 55 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
Main article: 1970 Hessian state election

In the previous election held on 8 November 1970, the CDU achieved a major swing and increased its vote share to just under 40%, offering a serious challenge to the SPD for the first time in decades. Though remaining the largest party with 46%, the SPD were deprived of their majority and formed a coalition government with the FDP.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 7th Landtag of Hesse.

Name Ideology Lead
candidate		 1970 result
Votes (%) Seats
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands		 Social democracy Albert Osswald 45.9%
53 / 110
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands		 Christian democracy Alfred Dregger 39.7%
46 / 110
FDP Free Democratic Party
Freie Demokratische Partei		 Classical liberalism Heinz Herbert Karry 10.1%
11 / 110

Results
PartyVotes%+/–Seats
Con.ListTotal+–
Christian Democratic Union1,528,79347.32+7.59351853+7
Social Democratic Party1,394,12343.16–2.75202949–4
Free Democratic Party238,7267.39–2.68088–3
National Democratic Party32,7131.01–2.000000
German Communist Party28,6990.89–0.280000
Communist Party of Germany (AO)4,1680.13New000New
Communist League of West Germany2,7320.08New000New
League of German Communists3520.01New000New
European Labour Committees230.00New000New
Independents910.000.000–00
Total3,230,420100.00–55551100
Valid votes3,230,42098.96
Invalid/blank votes33,7891.04
Total votes3,264,209100.00
Registered voters/turnout3,850,22384.78
  • "Final Results for the Landtag election of 27 October 1974" (PDF). Parliamentary Data Bank of the Hessian Landtag (in German). 7 November 1974. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  • "Elections for the 8th Hessian state parliament, October 27, 1974". Hessian Regional History Information System (in German). Retrieved 15 September 2023.

Notes
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