2014 Thuringian state election

2014 Thuringian state election

← 2009 14 September 2014 2019 →
All 91 seats of the Landtag of Thuringia 46 seats needed for a majority
Registered	1,812,370 5.1%
Turnout	941,719 (52.7%) 3.5%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Christine Lieberknecht Bodo Ramelow Heike Taubert Party CDU Left SPD Leader's seat Weimar I – Weimarer Land II List (lost Erfurt III) List[a] Last election 30 seats, 31.2% 27 seats, 27.4% 18 seats, 18.5% Seats won 34 28 12 Seat change 4 1 6 Popular vote 315,104 265,428 116,889 Percentage 33.5% 28.2% 12.4% Swing 2.3% 0.8% 6.1%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Björn Höcke Anja Siegesmund & Dirk Adams Party AfD Greens Leader's seat List[b] List[c] Last election Did not exist 6 seats, 6.2% Seats won 11 6 Seat change 11 0 Popular vote 99,545 53,407 Percentage 10.6% 5.7% Swing New party 0.5%
Results for the single-member constituencies
Minister-President before election Christine Lieberknecht CDU Elected Minister-President Bodo Ramelow Left

The 2014 Thuringian state election was held on 14 September 2014 to elect the members of the 6th Landtag of Thuringia. The government prior to the election was a grand coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Social Democratic Party (SPD) led by Minister-President Christine Lieberknecht. The government narrowly retained its majority. However, the SPD chose not to renew the coalition, instead pursuing an agreement to enter as a junior partner in a coalition with The Left and The Greens. After a vote of the SPD membership showed a majority in favour, the SPD went ahead with the agreement.^[1][2]

On 5 December the red-red-green coalition, led by The Left's Bodo Ramelow, was elected by the Landtag with 46 out of 91 votes. This was the first time in its history that The Left had become the leading party of a governing coalition in Germany. Ramelow became The Left's first ever head of a state government.^[3][4]

The table below lists parties represented in the 5th Landtag of Thuringia.

Summary of the 2014 Landtag of Thuringia elections results

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Christian Democratic Union	315,096	33.46	2.3	34	4
	The Left	265,425	28.19	0.8	28	1
	Social Democratic Party	116,889	12.41	6.1	12	6
	Alternative for Germany	99,548	10.57	New	11	New
	Alliance 90/The Greens	53,395	5.67	0.5	6
	National Democratic Party	34,018	3.61	0.7	0
	Free Democratic Party	23,352	2.48	5.1	0	7
	Others	33,969	3.61	1.3	0
Total		941,692	100.00	–	91	–
Valid votes		941,692	98.61	0.4
Invalid/blank votes		13,271	1.39	0.4
Total votes		954,963	100.00	–
Registered voters/turnout		1,812,249	52.69	3.5

While the incumbent grand coalition narrowly retained its majority, both parties underperformed expectations. This was especially true for the SPD, which recorded a result worse than it had polled at any point during the preceding five-year parliamentary term. For this reason, the SPD leadership decided to leave the coalition and seek other options. The most clear choice was a "red-red-green coalition" with The Left and Greens. Though this arrangement had successfully governed other states in the past, such a government had always been led by the SPD. Due to the dominance of The Left in Thuringia, however, the only viable option would be a government headed by Bodo Ramelow, leader of The Left. This was a highly controversial prospect due to the party's status as the successor of the Socialist Unity Party, the former ruling party of East Germany. Nonetheless, the SPD pursued the option. They resolved to seek approval from their party membership before signing any agreements, however, and held among the party membership for this purpose; 69.9% were in favour. The SPD therefore moved ahead with plans.^[3]

On 4 December, Ramelow was elected Minister-President by the Landtag on the second ballot, with a bare majority of 46 votes out of 91. Prior to the vote, thousands assembled outside the Landtag to protest the investiture of the government. Former East German dissidents were among the demonstrators, with some shouting "Stasi out!" and "The Social Democrats have betrayed us".^[3]

• Wahlumfragen zur Landtagswahl in Thuringia (wahlrecht.de)