1974 Hessian state election

1974 Hessian state election

27 October 1974
All 110 seats in the Landtag of Hesse 56 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	3,264,209 (84.8% 2.0pp)
First party Second party Third party   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 7 4 3 Popular vote 1,528,793 1,394,123 238,726 Percentage 47.3% 43.2% 7.4% Swing 7.6pp 2.7pp 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 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.

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

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats
					Con.	List	Total	+–
	Christian Democratic Union	1,528,793	47.32	+7.59	35	18	53	+7
	Social Democratic Party	1,394,123	43.16	–2.75	20	29	49	–4
	Free Democratic Party	238,726	7.39	–2.68	0	8	8	–3
	National Democratic Party	32,713	1.01	–2.00	0	0	0	0
	German Communist Party	28,699	0.89	–0.28	0	0	0	0
	Communist Party of Germany (AO)	4,168	0.13	New	0	0	0	New
	Communist League of West Germany	2,732	0.08	New	0	0	0	New
	League of German Communists	352	0.01	New	0	0	0	New
	European Labour Committees	23	0.00	New	0	0	0	New
	Independents	91	0.00	0.00	0	–	0	0
Total		3,230,420	100.00	–	55	55	110	0
Valid votes		3,230,420	98.96
Invalid/blank votes		33,789	1.04
Total votes		3,264,209	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		3,850,223	84.78

External links

• "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.