2013 Bavarian state election

2013 Bavarian state election
All 180 seats in the Landtag of Bavaria ; 91 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	11,812,965 (63.6%); 5.7%
	Results for the single-member constituencies
Minister-President before election; Horst Seehofer ; CSU	Minister-President designate; Horst Seehofer ; CSU

Last updated January 07, 2024

The 2013 Bavarian state election was held on 15 September 2013 to elect the 180 members of the 17th Landtag of Bavaria. It was held one week before the 2013 German federal election. The CSU regained the absolute majority it had lost in 2008, while the Free Democratic Party (FDP), a member of the outgoing governing coalition, fell below the 5% electoral threshold and lost all its seats.^[2] Minister-President Horst Seehofer continued in office.

This election was the last election in which a single party got an absolute majority in a state parliament until the 2022 Saarland state election. The CSU previously held an absolute majority, and therefore governed alone, from 1966 to 2008 and again from 2013 to 2018. Previously, even in the late 1990s, it was common that either the CDU/CSU or the SPD got an absolute majority in a state election. For example, this happened in Brandenburg in 1994, 1998 in Lower Saxony and 1999 in Saxony .

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 16th Landtag of Bavaria.

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	2008 result
Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	Votes (%)	Seats
	CSU	Christian Social Union in Bavaria Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern	Christian democracy	Horst Seehofer	43.4%	92 / 187
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Christian Ude	18.6%	39 / 187
	FW	Free Voters of Bavaria Freie Wähler Bayern	Regionalism	Hubert Aiwanger	10.2%	21 / 187
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics	Margarete Bause	9.4%	19 / 187
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	Martin Zeil	8.0%	16 / 187

Opinion polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	CSU	SPD	FW	Grüne	FDP	Linke	Piraten	Others	Lead
Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size								Others	Lead
2013 state election	15 Sep 2013	–	47.7	20.6	9.0	8.6	3.3	2.1	2.0	6.7	27.1
Emnid	4–5 Sep 2013	~1,000	47	18	8	12	4	4	3	4	29
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	3–5 Sep 2013	1,010	48	20	8	10	4	–	–	10	28
Infratest dimap	3–5 Sep 2013	1,006	47	21	7	11	3	3	–	8	26
GMS	30 Aug – 2 Sep 2013	1,009	47	18	8	13	5	3	2	4	29
Emnid	23–24 Aug 2013	1,000	48	18	8	13	4	3	3	3	30
Infratest dimap	11–15 Jul 2013	1,004	47	18	8	15	3	3	–	6	29
GMS	8–10 Jul 2013	1,007	47	19	10	11	5	2	2	4	28
Emnid	4–6 Jul 2013	1,000	47	19	9	11	5	3	3	3^{[lower-alpha 1]}	28
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	10–12 Jun 2013	1,009	46	20	10	13	4	–	–	7	26
GMS	3–10 Jun 2013	1,309	46	20	9	11	4	3	2	5	26
Forsa	8–25 May 2013	1,102	46	20	9	12	4	3	2	5	26
GMS	28–30 Apr 2013	1,008	47	20	8	13	3	2	2	5	27
INSA	15–17 Apr 2013	1,005	49	18	9	16	2	2	–	4	31
GMS	4–15 Feb 2013	1,004	48	21	8	12	3	3	2	?	27
TNS Infratest	28 Jan – 6 Feb 2013	1,001	46	19	8	15	3	2	3	4	27
Emnid	5–7 Feb 2013	1,001	48	20	9	12	3	2	3	?	28
Emnid	?	?	48	20	8	12	3	3	3	?	28
Forsa	17 Dec 2012–8 Jan 2013	1,119	46	18	9	13	3	4	2	5	28
Infratest dimap	3–7 Jan 2013	1,000	47	19	9	14	3	2	3	3	28
GMS	4–7 Dec 2012	1,100	49	22	8	10	4	?	4	?	27
GMS	22–30 Oct 2012	?	48	20	8	10	5	2	4	?	28
GMS	16–18 Oct 2012	1,007	48	20	8	10	5	2	4	3	28
Emnid	26 Sep – 10 Oct 2012	1,001	48	21	8	10	4	2	4	3	27
Emnid	?	?	47	21	9	10	3	2	5	3	26
Emnid	27–30 Jul 2012	1,000	46	20	8	12	3	2	6	3	26
GMS	June 2012	1,000	46	19	6/8^{[lower-alpha 2]}	10	4	?	9/7^{[lower-alpha 3]}	?	27
Forsa	21–29 Jun 2012	1,150	43	23	9	11	2	2	6	4	20
Emnid	20–21 Jun 2012	1,000	44	22	6	13	3	1	7	4	22
Emnid	16–18 Apr 2012	1,000	46	20	7	12	2	2	8	3	26
Emnid	15–20 Mar 2012	1,001	46	20	8	13	2	2	5	4	26
Infratest dimap	2–3 Jan 2012	1,000	44	21	8	14	3	2	4	4	23
GMS	30 Dec 2011–3 Jan 2012	1,002	42	22	9	12	2	2	5	6	20
Emnid	December 2012	1,000	44	21	9	13	2	2	5	?	23
Forsa	26 Oct – 25 Nov 2011	1,002	41	24	9	10	3	3	6	4^{[lower-alpha 4]}	17
Emnid	September 2011	?	43	20	9	17	2	3	–	6	23
Emnid	31 Aug – 1 Sep 2011	1,000	44	18	9	18	4	?	–	?	26
Forsa	15–26 Aug 2011	1,007	41	21	10	16	3	4	–	5	20
GMS	6–8 Jun 2011	1,002	42	19	6	18	4	4	–	7	23
Emnid	6–8 Jun 2011	1,000	45	15	8	20	4	4	–	4	25
Emnid	11–17 Mar 2011	1,000	46	17	7	17	4	4	–	5	29
Forsa	4–14 Jan 2011	1,048	40	16	10	20	4	4	–	6	20
Infratest dimap	6–10 Jan 2011	1,000	46	17	4	17	6	4	1	5	29
Emnid	10–12 Dec 2010	1,001	45	18	6	16	5	5	–	5	27
Infratest dimap	7–12 Jan 2010	1,001	41	17	6	15	11	3	–	5	24
2009 federal election	27 Sep 2009	–	42.6	16.8	?	10.8	14.7	6.5	?	8.6	25.8
Infratest dimap	8–11 Jan 2009	1,000	45	17	10	11	10	3	–	4	28
GMS	4–5 Jan 2009	1,002	45	19	8	10	8	4	–	6	26
GMS	12–17 Dec 2008	1,002	45	19	8	10	8	4	–	6	26
2008 state election	28 Sep 2008	–	43.4	18.6	10.2	9.4	8.0	4.3	–	6.1^{[lower-alpha 5]}	24.8

Election result

The CSU regained an absolute majority of the seats, which they had lost in the 2008 election after 50 years of single-party government. The FDP, which had governed with the CSU since 2008, fell below the 5% threshold and lost all its seats. SPD, the Greens and Free Voters remained in opposition. A record number of 14.1% of the votes cast went unrepresented in the Landtag because of the 5% threshold.

Summary of the 15 September 2013 election results for the Landtag of Bavaria

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Christian Social Union (CSU)	5,632,272	47.68	+4.3	101	+9
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	2,436,515	20.63	+2.0	42	+3
	Free Voters of Bavaria (FW)	1,062,244	8.99	-1.2	19	-2
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	1,018,652	8.62	-0.8	18	-1
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	389,584	3.30	-4.7	0	-16
	The Left (Linke)	251,086	2.13	-22	0	±0
	Bavaria Party (BP)	247,282	2.09	-2.2	0	±0
	Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP)	239,235	2.03	±0.0	0	±0
	Pirate Party Germany (Piraten)	234,221	1.98	New	0	New
	The Republicans (REP)	117,633	1.00	-0.4	0	±0
	Party For Franconia	87,237	0.74	New	0	New
	National Democratic Party (NPD)	74,895	0.63	±0.0	0	±0
	Others	22,019	0.19	-0.2	0	±0
Total		11,812,875	100.00	–	180	–

Popular vote

CSU			47.68%
SPD			20.63%
FW			8.99%
B'90/GRÜNE			8.62%
FDP			3.30%
DIE LINKE			2.13%
Others			8.65%

Seats

CSU			56.11%
SPD			23.33%
FW			10.55%
B'90/GRÜNE			10.00%

Notes

↑ 1% AfD, 2% Other
↑ The results of the poll differ between sources, and were not confirmed by the publisher.
↑ The results of the poll differ between sources, and were not confirmed by the publisher.
↑ 1% BP, 3% Other
↑ 2.0% ÖDP, 1.4% REP, 2.7% Other

Related Research Articles

The Christian Social Union in Bavaria is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. Having a regionalist identity, the CSU operates only in Bavaria while its larger counterpart, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), operates in the other fifteen states of Germany. It differs from the CDU by being somewhat more conservative in social matters, following Catholic social teaching. The CSU is considered the de facto successor of the Weimar-era Catholic Bavarian People's Party.

The Free Democratic Party is a liberal political party in Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1998 German federal election</span>

Federal elections were held in Germany on 27 September 1998 to elect the members of the 14th Bundestag. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) emerged as the largest faction in parliament for the first time since 1972, with its leader Gerhard Schröder becoming chancellor. The Christian Democrats had their worst election result since 1949.

The 2000 North Rhine-Westphalia state election was held on 14 May 2000 to elect the 13th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens led by Minister-President Wolfgang Clement.

The 2002 Saxony-Anhalt state election was held on 21 April 2002 to elect the members of the 4th Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt. The incumbent Social Democratic Party (SPD) minority government led by Minister-President Reinhard Höppner was defeated. The SPD fell to third place, while the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) moved into first. The CDU subsequently formed a coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FDP), and CDU leader Wolfgang Böhmer was elected Minister-President.

Federal elections were held in Germany on 18 September 2005 to elect the members of the 16th Bundestag. The snap election was called after the government's defeat in the North Rhine-Westphalia state election, which caused them to intentionally lose a motion of confidence to trigger an early federal election. The outgoing government was a coalition of the centre-left Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and Alliance 90/The Greens, led by federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. The election was originally intended for the autumn of 2006.

The 2008 Hessian state election was held on 27 January 2008 to elect the members of the Landtag of Hesse. The incumbent Christian Democratic Union (CDU) government led by Minister-President Roland Koch lost its majority. The result of the election was extremely close but inconclusive, with the CDU winning just 3,500 votes (0.1%) more than the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Due to the entrance of The Left to the Landtag, neither the CDU–FDP or SPD–Green bloc garnered a majority. After a year of failed attempts to form government, a new election was held.

Bavaria, one of the states of Germany, has a multiparty system dominated by the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU). Bavaria has long been a bastion of conservative politics in Germany, with the Christian Social Union has won every election of the state parliament since 1946 and having almost a monopoly on power. Every Minister-President since 1957 has been a member of this party. On the other hand the bigger and more liberal, or rather social democratic, cities, especially Munich, have been governed for decades by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) until recently the second biggest party. In 2018 the Alliance 90/The Greens which have been represented in the state parliament since 1986, became the second biggest political party in the Landtag and in 2020 the biggest party in the Munich City Council. From the historical point of view, older Bavaria was one of the most liberal, predominantly Roman Catholic states until the rather rural areas of Swabia and Franconia were added in 1814/15 at the Congress of Vienna.

Federal elections were held on 22 September to elect the members of the 18th Bundestag of Germany. At stake were all 598 seats to the Bundestag, plus 33 overhang seats determined thereafter. The Christian Democratic Union of Germany/Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CDU/CSU) of incumbent chancellor Angela Merkel won their best result since 1990 with nearly 42% of the vote and nearly 50% of the seats, just five short for an overall majority. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) failed to meet the 5% vote electoral threshold in what was their worst showing ever in a federal election, denying them seats in the Bundestag for the first time in their history.

The 2013 Lower Saxony state election was held on 20 January 2013 to elect the members of the 17th Landtag of Lower Saxony. The incumbent coalition government of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President David McAllister was defeated. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) formed a government with The Greens which held a slim, one-seat majority. Stephan Weil was subsequently elected Minister-President.

The 2014 Saxony state election was held on 31 August 2014 to elect the members of the 6th Landtag of Saxony. The incumbent coalition government of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Stanislaw Tillich was defeated as the FDP lost all its seats. The CDU subsequently formed a grand coalition with the Social Democratic Party (SPD), and Tillich was re-elected as Minister-President.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Lower Saxony state election</span>

The 2017 Lower Saxony state election was held on 15 October 2017 to elect the 18th Landtag of Lower Saxony. The incumbent coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens led by Minister-President Stephan Weil was defeated. Though the SPD became the largest party in the Landtag largely fueled by the personal popularity of Weil, their gains were offset by losses for the Greens, depriving the government of its majority. The SPD subsequently formed a grand coalition with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and Weil continued as Minister-President.

The 2018 Bavarian state election took place on 14 October 2018 to elect the 180 members of the 18th Landtag of Bavaria. The outgoing government was a majority of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU), led by Minister President Markus Söder.

The 2021 Saxony-Anhalt state election was held on 6 June 2021 to elect the 8th Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt. The outgoing government was coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Social Democratic Party (SPD), and The Greens, led by Minister-President Reiner Haseloff.

The 1958 Bavarian state election was held on 23 November 1958 to elect the members of the Fourth Bavarian Landtag, and was notable for being held in the midst of the Casino Affair, which indicted several Bavarian politicians in the previous government on charges of corruption.

The 2021 Rhineland-Palatinate state election was held on 14 March 2021 to elect the 18th Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate. The outgoing government was a "traffic light coalition" of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Free Democratic Party (FDP), and The Greens led by Minister-President Malu Dreyer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German governing coalition</span> Potential governing alliances in Germany

In Germany's federal electoral system, a single party or parliamentary group rarely wins an absolute majority of seats in the Bundestag, and thus coalition governments, rather than single-party governments, are the usually expected outcome of a German election. As German political parties are often associated with particular colors, coalitions are frequently given nicknames based on the colors included. Prominent political parties in Germany are the CDU/CSU (black), the SPD (red), the Greens (green), the Left, the AfD (blue), and the FDP (yellow).

The 1966 North Rhine-Westphalia state election was held on 10 July 1966 to elect the 6th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Franz Meyers.

The 1958 North Rhine-Westphalia state election was held on 6 July 1958 to elect the 4th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Centre Party led by Minister-President Fritz Steinhoff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1966 Hessian state election</span> German state election

The 1966 Hessian state election was held on 6 November 1966 to elect the 6th Landtag of Hesse. The outgoing government was a majority of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and All-German Party (GDP) led by Minister-President Georg-August Zinn.

References

↑ The winners and losers - 7 things you need to know about the Bavaria election. The Local de. (German edition). Published 15 October 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
↑ "Wahlen".

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[3] 1% AfD, 2% Other

[4] The results of the poll differ between sources, and were not confirmed by the publisher.

[5] The results of the poll differ between sources, and were not confirmed by the publisher.

[6] 1% BP, 3% Other

[7] 2.0% ÖDP, 1.4% REP, 2.7% Other

[1] The winners and losers - 7 things you need to know about the Bavaria election. The Local de. (German edition). Published 15 October 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2018.

[2] "Wahlen".

[1]

[2]

[lower-alpha 1]

[lower-alpha 2]

[lower-alpha 3]

[lower-alpha 4]

[lower-alpha 5]

v t e Elections and referendums in Bavaria
State elections	1818 1824 1830 1836 1839 1845 1848 1849 1855 1858 1863 1869 (May) 1869 (Nov) 1875 1881 1887 1893 1899 1905 1907 1912 1919 1920 1924 1928 1932 1946 (Jun) 1946 (Dec) 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2003 2008 2013 2018 2023
Local elections	1946 1948 1952 1956 1960 1966 1972 1978 1984 1990 1996 2002 2008 2014 2020 2026
Referendums	1924 1946 1968 1970 1973 1984 1991 1995 1998 2003 2010 2013 2014 2019
See also: Elections and referendums in Germany

v t e 2013 elections in Germany
Federal	Germany
State	Bavaria Hesse Lower Saxony
Previous: 2012 — Next: 2014