2006 Rhineland-Palatinate state election

The 2006 Rhineland-Palatinate state election was held on 26 March 2006 to elect the members of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate. The incumbent coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Kurt Beck retained its majority. However, as the SPD won an outright majority, the FDP chose not to continue the coalition. Beck was subsequently re-elected as Minister-President.

2006 Rhineland-Palatinate state election
26 March 2006
All 101 seats of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate
51 seats needed for a majority
Turnout1,753,110 (58.2%)
Decrease 4.0%
  First party Second party
 
Leader Kurt Beck Christoph Böhr
Party SPD CDU
Last election 49 seats, 44.8% 38 seats, 35.3%
Seats won 53 38
Seat change Increase 4 Steady 0
Popular vote 799,377 574,329
Percentage 45.6% 32.8%
Swing Increase 0.8% Decrease 2.5%
  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Hans-Artur Bauckhage Ise Thomas
Party FDP Greens
Last election 8 seats, 7.8% 6 seats, 5.2%
Seats won 10 0
Seat change Increase 2 Decrease 6
Popular vote 140,865 81,411
Percentage 8.0% 4.6%
Swing Increase 0.2% Decrease 0.6%
Minister-President before election

Kurt Beck
SPD

 Elected Minister-President

Kurt Beck
SPD

Campaign and issues

The election was one of the first held under the grand coalition federal government. Thus, the SPD and CDU did not attack each other as harshly as previously. The SPD was expected to benefit from the personality of Kurt Beck, while the CDU ran again with their leader Christoph Böhr, who had already lost the 2001 election.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Name Ideology Leader(s) 2001 result
Votes (%) Seats
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands		 Social democracy Kurt Beck 44.8%
49 / 101
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands		 Christian democracy Christoph Böhr 35.3%
38 / 101
FDP Free Democratic Party
Freie Demokratische Partei		 Classical liberalism Hans-Artur Bauckhage 7.8%
8 / 101
Grüne Alliance 90/The Greens
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen		 Green politics Ise Thomas 5.2%
6 / 101

Opinion polling
Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size		 SPD CDU FDP Grüne WASG Others Lead
2006 state election 26 Mar 2006 – 45.6 32.8 8.0 4.6 2.6 6.4 12.8
Emnid 7–18 Mar 2006 500 43 35 9 7 3 3 8
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen 13–16 Mar 2006 ~1,000 43 36 8 6 3 4 7
Infratest dimap 13–15 Mar 2006 1,000 43 35 9 6 3 4 8
Forsa 9–10 Mar 2006 1,001 39 34 10 8 4 5 5
Infratest dimap 25–28 Feb 2006 1,000 42 35 8 6 4 5 7
Psephos 21–23 Feb 2006 1,006 42 38 5 8 2 5 4
Infratest dimap 30 Jan–1 Feb 2006 1,000 42 36 8 6 4 4 6
Forsa 17–20 Jan 2006 1,002 37 37 11 7 4 4 Tie
Infratest dimap 8–12 Dec 2005 1,000 39 37 10 6 4 4 2
Psephos 22–24 Nov 2005 1,003 41 37 10 5 3 4 4
Infratest dimap 29 Aug–4 Sep 2005 1,000 35 43 8 6 4 4 8
Psephos 11–15 Aug 2005 1,002 41 39 8 5 4 3 2
Psephos 23–26 May 2005 1,001 39 40 9 5 1 6 1
Infratest dimap 7–13 Mar 2005 1,000 38 40 8 8 – 6 1
Psephos 15–17 Feb 2005 1,005 41 38 8 6 – 7 3
Infratest dimap 7–12 Dec 2004 1,000 38 39 8 8 – 7 1
Psephos 3–6 Nov 2004 1,003 39 39 9 6 – 7 Tie
Infratest dimap 7 Oct 2004 1,000 36 37 10 9 – 8 1
Psephos 24–27 Aug 2004 1,002 37 40 8 7 1 7 3
Infratest dimap 24–29 May 2004 1,000 34 45 8 8 – 6 11
Psephos 11–13 May 2004 1,003 37 43 8 6 – 6 6
Infratest dimap 8–13 Mar 2004 1,000 32 48 8 7 – 5 16
Psephos 10–13 Feb 2004 1,000 39 42 8 6 – 5 3
Infratest dimap 1–6 Dec 2003 1,000 35 45 8 7 – 5 10
Psephos 5–7 Nov 2003 1,006 35 45 8 7 –  ? 10
Infratest dimap 23–27 Sep 2003 1,000 35 46 7 7 – 5 11
Psephos 8–11 Aug 2003 1,001 39 43 8 6 –  ? 4
Infratest dimap 16–21 Jun 2003 1,000 36 47 7 6 – 4 11
Psephos 14–17 May 2003 1,005 37 45 7 8 – 3 8
Infratest dimap 10–15 Mar 2003 1,000 33 47 7 8 – 5 14
Psephos 10–13 Feb 2003 1,002 36 46 7 8 – 2 10
Infratest dimap 9–14 Dec 2002 1,001 35 45 7 7 – 6 10
Psephos 12–14 Nov 2002 1,005 40 42 7 7 – 4 2
Infratest dimap 2–7 Sep 2002 1,000 45 35 13 3 – 4 10
Psephos 1–3 Aug 2002 1,003 42 39 10 4 –  ? 3
Infratest dimap 27 May–1 Jun 2002 1,000 41 38 12 5 – 4 3
Psephos 6–10 May 2002 1,004 40 38 10 6 –  ? 2
Infratest dimap 4–9 Mar 2002 1,000 42 39 10 4 – 5 3
Psephos 1–5 Feb 2002 1,002 41 40 9 5 – 5 1
Infratest dimap 10–15 Dec 2001 1,000 43 39 10 3 – 5 4
Psephos 5–9 Nov 2001 1,002 45 36 9 5 – 5 9
Infratest dimap 10–15 Sep 2001 1,000 46 38 8 5 – 3 8
Psephos 27–30 Aug 2001 1,004 45 37 8  ? –  ? 8
Infratest dimap 21–26 May 2001 1,000 46 36 7 5 – 6 10
Psephos 4–10 May 2001 1,003 46 35 9 5 – 5 11
2001 state election 25 Mar 2001 – 44.8 35.3 7.8 5.2 – 6.9 9.5

Election result
Summary of the 26 March 2006 election results for the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate
Party Votes  % +/- Seats +/- Seats %
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 799,377 45.6 Increase0.8 53 Increase4 52.5
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 574,329 32.8 Decrease2.5 38 Steady0 37.6
Free Democratic Party (FDP) 140,865 8.0 Increase0.2 10 Increase2 9.9
Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) 81,411 4.6 Decrease0.6 0 Decrease6 0
Labour and Social Justice (WASG) 44,826 2.6 New 0 New 0
The Republicans (REP) 29,919 1.7 Decrease0.7 0 ±0 0
Free Voters (FW) 27,652 1.6 Decrease0.9 0 ±0 0
National Democratic Party (NPD) 21,056 1.2 Increase0.7 0 ±0 0
Others 33,675 1.9 0 ±0 0
Total 1,753,110 100.0 101 ±0
Voter turnout 58.2 Decrease4.0
Popular Vote
SPD
 
 45.60%
CDU
 
 32.76%
FDP
 
 8.04%
B'90/GRÜNE
 
 4.64%
WASG
 
 2.56%
Other
 
 6.41%
Landtag seats
SPD
 
 52.48%
CDU
 
 37.62%
FDP
 
 9.90%

Sources
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