State election in Thuringia 2014
In the state elections in Thuringia in 2014 , the members of the Thuringian state parliament were elected for the sixth legislative period. It took place on September 14, 2014 at the same time as the state election in Brandenburg . The turnout was 52.7%.
As a result of the state elections, there was a red-red-green coalition and Bodo Ramelow was elected as the new Prime Minister by the Thuringian state parliament. This is the first time that the Thuringian state government has not been headed by a Christian Democrat, and for the first time in the history of Germany, the Left Party has appointed a Prime Minister.
Election organization
According to Section 18 (2) of the Thuringian Election Law for the Landtag , the election had to take place “at the earliest 57, at the latest 61 months after the beginning of the electoral period”, ie after the fifth Landtag was constituted on September 29, 2009. On January 14, 2014, the state government designated September 14, 2014 as election day. The state election in Brandenburg took place on the same day .
1.84 million people were eligible to vote, including 39,000 first-time voters. 30,000 volunteers helped with the count at 3,000 polling stations.
Result
The CDU achieved the largest share of the list votes with 33.5 percent. The Left and the SPD came in second and third with 28.2 percent and 12.4 percent, respectively. With 10.6 percent, the AfD moved into the state parliament from scratch; she first took part in a state election in Thuringia in 2014. The Greens stayed with 5.7 percent in the Thuringian state parliament. The NPD failed with 3.6 percent of the five percent hurdle. With 2.5 percent of the vote, the FDP missed re-entry into the state parliament.
The total number of 91 seats in the Thuringian state parliament results from the standard 88 seats, half of which were allocated in the constituencies and half on the state list , and three additional seats. These consisted of an overhang mandate for the CDU and a compensation mandate each for the Left Party and AfD.
| Political party | Constituency votes | National votes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| number | % | Electoral kreisbe- tors |
Direct MAN date |
number | % | Seats | |
| Eligible voters | 1,812,370 | 1,812,370 | |||||
| Voters | 954.927 | 52.69 | 954.927 | 52.69 | |||
| Valid votes | 934.457 | 97.86 | 941.719 | 98.62 | |||
| CDU | 352.051 | 37.67 | 44 | 34 | 315.104 | 33.46 | 34 |
| THE LEFT | 274.936 | 29.42 | 44 | 9 | 265,428 | 28.19 | 28 |
| SPD | 145,634 | 15.58 | 44 | 1 | 116,889 | 12.41 | 12 |
| AfD | 20,833 | 2.23 | 9 | - | 99,545 | 10.57 | 11 |
| GREEN | 56,189 | 6.01 | 42 | - | 53,407 | 5.67 | 6th |
| NPD | 43,026 | 4.60 | 44 | - | 34,049 | 3.62 | - |
| FDP | 23,555 | 2.52 | 32 | - | 23,359 | 2.48 | - |
| Free voters | 14,157 | 1.51 | 13 | - | 15,864 | 1.68 | - |
| PIRATES | 4,076 | 0.44 | 7th | - | 9,689 | 1.03 | - |
| The party | - | - | - | - | 5,538 | 0.59 | - |
| REP | - | - | - | - | 1,670 | 0.18 | - |
| KPD | - | - | - | - | 1,177 | 0.12 | - |
| total | 934.457 | 100 | 279 | 44 | 941.719 | 100 | 91 |
Starting position
The incumbent Prime Minister Christine Lieberknecht stood for the CDU and Bodo Ramelow , who was previously chairman of the parliamentary group, stood for Die Linke . As the last of the three big parties, the SPD decided on Minister of Social Affairs Heike Taubert as the top candidate.
The state elections were of federal political importance in relation to a possible red-red coalition against the background of the SPD's opening to the left, which was discussed after the 2013 federal election . Although the SPD has already participated in red-red state governments several times in East Germany, it always provided the prime minister itself. For the 2014 election, however, the SPD no longer ruled out the possibility of electing a candidate from the left as prime minister. In this case, the first state government led by the left would arise in a German state.
With the other parties, entry into the state parliament was considered unsafe. According to surveys, it was possible for Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen , whereby the party was just under five percent in the 2013 federal election in Thuringia with 4.9%. If necessary, participation by the Greens in the context of a red-red-green state government was also up for debate, as was an alliance with the CDU, if this would have achieved a majority together as black-green . According to surveys, the entry of the alternative for Germany into the state parliament also appeared to be possible. It achieved 6.2% of the vote in the 2013 Bundestag election in Thuringia. Your top candidate was Björn Höcke . With survey results of up to 4%, the return of the FDP to the Thuringian state parliament was unclear . In the 2013 Bundestag election, it only achieved 2.6% of the vote. The free voters and the NPD achieved results of 4% in the last state election. The NPD's top candidate was Patrick Wieschke .
Coalition statements
In this election, two possible coalitions were at the center of public discussion: a continuation of the black-red coalition of CDU and SPD under Christine Lieberknecht or a red-red-green coalition between the Left Party, the SPD and the Greens led by the Left. In this case, Bodo Ramelow would be the first prime minister to be appointed by Die Linke. Since both constellations were possible according to the election result, the members of the SPD Thuringia should, as announced, determine in a membership decision after the election which coalition the SPD will enter into.
In addition, before the election, Lieberknecht categorically ruled out talks with the alternative for Germany . CDU parliamentary group leader Mike Mohring and the domestic policy spokesman for the CDU parliamentary group Wolfgang Fiedler , however, called for this option not to be ruled out from the outset.
Participating parties
All parties represented in the Thuringian state parliament so far can participate in the election without supporting signatures. Parties that are not represented in the state parliament had to announce their participation in the election by June 16, 2014 at the latest and submit at least 1,000 support signatures. All district election proposals and state lists had to be submitted by July 10th. As the state returning officer announced on July 18, 2014, a total of twelve parties and state lists were allowed to vote (in the order of the parties on the ballot):
| Abbreviation | Political party | Top candidate | Number of members |
|---|---|---|---|
| CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany | Christine Lieberknecht | 12,000 |
| left | The left | Bodo Ramelow | 5,387 |
| SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany | Heike Taubert | 4,500 |
| FDP | Free Democratic Party | Uwe Barth | 1,269 |
| Green | Alliance 90 / The Greens | Anja Siegesmund | 750 |
| NPD | National Democratic Party of Germany | Patrick Wieschke | 350 |
| Free voters | Free voters in Thuringia | Marco Tasch | 100 |
| REP | The Republicans | Detlev Stauch | 500 |
| AfD | Alternative for Germany | Bjorn Höcke | 350 |
| KPD | Communist Party of Germany | Torsten Schöwitz | 30th |
| The party | Party for work, the rule of law, animal welfare, elite support and grassroots initiative | Norbert Schmidt (aka "Eggs Gildo") | 170 |
| Pirates | Pirate Party Germany | Alexandra Bernhardt | 507 |
Due to a lack of support signatures, the nomination of the party The Party-Free Voters was not accepted.
Top candidates of the parties represented in the state parliament from 2009 to 2014
Christine Lieberknecht , CDU
Bodo Ramelow , Die Linke
Heike Taubert , SPD
Uwe Barth , FDP
Anja Siegesmund , Greens
Survey
Election results and surveys on intended voting
For the Sunday question, the polling institutes gave the following results:
| Institute | date | CDU | left | SPD | FDP | Green | AfD | Pirates | FW | NPD | Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 result | 33.5% | 28.2% | 12.4% | 2.5% | 5.7% | 10.6% | 1.0% | 1.7% | 3.6% | 0.9% | |
| Research group elections | 09/11/2014 | 36% | 26% | 16% | - | 5.5% | 8th % | - | - | - | 8.5% |
| Infratest dimap | 09/04/2014 | 34% | 28% | 16% | 3% | 5% | 7% | - | - | 4% | 3% |
| Research group elections | 09/04/2014 | 36% | 26% | 16% | - | 6% | 8th % | - | - | - | 8th % |
| INSA | 08/08/2014 | 34% | 26% | 19% | 4% | 6% | 5% | - | - | - | 6% |
| Infratest dimap | 07/15/2014 | 36% | 27% | 19% | 2% | 6% | 4% | - | - | 2% | 4% |
| INSA | 07/05/2014 | 33% | 25% | 18% | 3% | 6% | 7% | 2% | 2% | - | 4% |
| Infratest dimap | 05/14/2014 | 36% | 28% | 19% | 2% | 5% | 4% | - | - | 3% | 3% |
| Infratest dimap | 03/14/2014 | 38% | 28% | 17% | 2% | 6% | 5% | - | - | - | 4% |
| INSA | 02/20/2014 | 35% | 25% | 20% | 3% | 5% | 5% | - | 2% | - | 5% |
| aproxima | 01/28/2014 | 27% | 28% | 22% | 3% | 11% | 3% | 2% | 2% | 1 % | 4% |
| INSA | 12/27/2013 | 35% | 27% | 18% | 2% | 7% | 5% | - | - | - | - |
| INSA | 11/09/2013 | 36% | 27% | 14% | 2% | 6% | 6% | - | - | - | - |
| Emnid | 05/11/2013 | 39% | 26% | 17% | 1 % | 5% | 7% | - | - | 2% | 3% |
| Infratest dimap | 08/20/2013 | 43% | 20% | 20% | 2% | 7% | - | - | - | - | 8th % |
| Infratest dimap | 07/05/2013 | 41% | 21% | 20% | 3% | 8th % | - | 3% | - | - | 4% |
| Infratest dimap | 05/18/2012 | 35% | 23% | 24% | 2% | 6% | - | 6% | - | - | 4% |
| IfM Leipzig | 08/13/2011 | 33% | 25% | 20% | 4% | 11% | - | - | - | - | 7% |
| Infratest dimap | 05/05/2010 | 32% | 29% | 21% | 5% | 6% | - | - | - | - | 7% |
| Result 2009 | 31.2% | 27.4% | 18.5% | 7.6% | 6.2% | - | - | 3.9% | 4.3% | 0.9% | |
Candidate surveys
When asked who the Thuringians would directly elect as Prime Minister, the respondents answered as follows:
| Institute |
date |
Lieberknecht (CDU) |
Ramelow (left) |
Taubert (SPD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infratest dimap | 09/22/2014 | 45% | 35% | - |
| Research group elections | 09/14/2014 | 49% | 39% | - |
| Infratest dimap | 09/14/2014 | 44% | 40% | - |
| Research group elections | 09/11/2014 | 48% 41% |
33% - |
- 34% |
| Research group elections | 09/04/2014 | 52% 45% - |
34% - 32% |
- 34% 42% |
| Infratest dimap | 09/04/2014 | 34% | 24% | 18% |
| Infratest dimap | 07/15/2014 | 37% | 24% | 17% |
| Infratest dimap | 05/14/2014 | 34% | 23% | 16% |
| aproxima | 01/30/2014 | 34% | 15% | 17% |
Government formation
The election result created a confusing situation for the formation of a government. Two coalitions were at the center of the discussion on election evening: a continuation of the cooperation between CDU and SPD (so-called "Grand Coalition") or the first formation of a government under the leadership of the Left Party (so-called "red-red-green coalition"). In both cases, the government had a majority of just one vote in the state parliament with 46 votes out of 91 members. All parties had excluded a coalition with the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the run-up to the election. The top candidates from the CDU (the incumbent Prime Minister Lieberknecht) and the Left Party (Ramelow) declared on the evening of the election that they wanted to form a government. The CDU also brought up the new model of a black-red-green coalition (“ Afghanistan coalition ”), with the Greens being skeptical or even negative about this constellation.
The social democrats are needed as partners in all three cases. They wanted to carry out a membership decision before the coalition talks began. The demoscopic analysis of the voter migration showed that a large part of the SPD's loss of votes resulted from a migration of their voters to the Left Party. In response to the poor performance of the SPD, party leader Sigmar Gabriel called for a new start in the regional association on the evening of the election, and SPD regional leader Christoph Matschie offered to resign. He was followed by the Mayor of Erfurt, Andreas Bausewein , who led the exploratory talks with the other parties. During the SPD membership decision, Federal President Joachim Gauck criticized the inadequate processing of the SED history within the Left Party and expressed himself skeptically about the question of whether Die Linke should already appoint a Prime Minister. For his part, he was criticized by politicians of the Left Party for these statements. On November 5, 2014, the SPD Thuringia announced that 69.9 percent of its members voted for a red-red-green coalition. As a result, coalition negotiations between the Left Party, the SPD and the Greens began.
Christine Lieberknecht decided not to run again a few days before the election of the Prime Minister and also withdrew from the party leadership. The CDU leadership decided not to nominate its own candidate against Bodo Ramelow in the first ballot.
In the run-up to the expected election of Ramelow as the first Prime Minister of the Left Party, there were public protests. On the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 2014, 4,000 people demonstrated against the red-red-green coalition in Erfurt . On the eve of the election, around 2,000 people demonstrated in front of the Erfurt Landtag. According to a report in Der Spiegel , former GDR civil rights activists, conservatives, social democrats and right-wing extremists united in protest against Ramelow's election.
After Ramelow's election, SPD MPs filed a criminal complaint alleging that CDU politicians tried to “buy” votes from the SPD parliamentary group in order to prevent Ramelow from being elected. SPD politicians are said to have been promised posts in a future CDU-led government if they would vote against Ramelow. The investigations by the Thuringian Public Prosecutor's Office were discontinued in April 2015 because these offers do not constitute a criminal offense.
Change of faction and party after the election
Due to the exclusion of Siegfried Gentele and the departure of Oskar Helmerich and Jens Krumpe from the AfD parliamentary group and Jürgen Reinholz's resignation from the CDU, the Thuringian state parliament had four non-attached members until mid-April 2016 . Since then, Oskar Helmerich has been a member of the SPD parliamentary group. Siegfried Gentele was a non-attached member of the Alliance for Progress and Awakening and had been a member of the German Family Party since March 2016 . Since July 2019 Gentele has been a member of the small Democracy Direct party, which was founded in December 2018 . At the end of April 2017, Marion Rosin left the SPD and announced that she would join the CDU parliamentary group. It was included in this on April 26, 2017. This reduced the majority of the Ramelow government to one MP.
Simultaneous local elections
In addition to the state elections, there were also local votes in some regions on September 14th. A new district administrator was elected in the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district. In the Eichsfeld community of Fretterode there was a municipal council election, while in Etzleben, Nahetal-Waldau, Krautheim, Saaleplatte, Mellenbach-Glasbach, Uhlstädt-Kirchhasel, Weißenborn, Langenorla and Bethenhausen new mayors were elected. In the district of Schmalkalden-Meiningen and in the municipality of Nesse-Apfelstädt in the district of Gotha, voters were called upon to vote in referendums. The first was about a leaning lookout tower with an adventure center on the Gebaberg . This plan was rejected in the referendum.
See also
- List of members of the Thuringian state parliament (6th electoral term)
- List of state electoral districts in Thuringia
literature
- Torsten Oppelland : The Thuringian state elections of September 14, 2014: Starting signal for the experiment of a red-red-green coalition under left leadership . In: Journal for Parliamentary Questions 46 (2015) 1, pp. 39–56.
Web links
- Election polls for the state election in Thuringia
- State election in Thuringia 2014 on the information portal on political education
- Wahl-O-Mat for the state elections in Thuringia 2014
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b State election 2014 in Thuringia - final result. Thuringian State Office for Statistics , September 26, 2014, accessed on September 26, 2014 .
- ^ A b Wahlrecht.de : Election dates in the Federal Republic of Germany
- ^ Thuringian State Office for Statistics: Press release 280/2014 . Retrieved September 15, 2014.
- ^ Thuringian election law for the state parliament (Thuringian state election law - ThürLWG -) in the version of July 30, 2012, § 18 landesrecht.thueringen.de
- ↑ 11.8 tons of voting papers for Thuringia in print. In: Ostthüringer Zeitung . August 13, 2014, accessed July 5, 2015 .
- ↑ Wahlrecht.de
- ↑ State election 2014 in Thuringia - final result for the state returning officer
- ↑ State election 2009 in Thuringia - final result. State result Thuringian State Office for Statistics
- ↑ Jan Drebes: The base decides on red-red in Thuringia. In: RP Online . August 11, 2014, accessed July 5, 2015 .
- ^ Message from MDR Thuringia from August 19, 2014 ( Memento from September 5, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Matthias Meisner : Thuringian CDU parliamentary group leader open to alliances with AfD. In: Der Tagesspiegel . August 31, 2014, archived from the original on December 1, 2014 ; accessed on December 15, 2014 .
- ↑ Twelve parties stand in state elections in Thuringia. In: Ostthüringer Zeitung. July 18, 2014, accessed July 5, 2015 .
- ↑ www.wahlen.thueringen.de
- ↑ www.bpb.de Who is available for election? - State election in Thuringia 2014
- ↑ wahlen.thueringen.de ( Memento from August 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ www.bpb.de
- ↑ 12 parties approved by the state election committee for the 2014 state elections in Thuringia. Press release of the regional returning officer of July 18, 2014 (PDF)
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Wahlrecht.de : Election polls on the state elections in Thuringia .
- ↑ Markus Decker: SPD in Thuringia: At the low point. In: fr-online.de. November 15, 2013, archived from the original on July 14, 2014 ; accessed on December 15, 2014 .
- ↑ www.mdr.de ( Memento from December 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ wahltool.zdf.de
- ↑ www.tagesschau.de ( Memento from September 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ www.heute.de ( Memento from September 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ www.heute.de ( Memento from September 5, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ ARD pre-election survey Thuringia: Black-red coalition is ahead in Thuringia. In: Finanz.net. September 4, 2014, accessed July 6, 2015 .
- ↑ www.mdr.de
- ↑ www.infratest-dimap.de ( Memento from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Before the Thuringian state elections in September: "Everything is open". In: Thuringian General . January 30, 2014, accessed July 5, 2015 .
- ^ A b Philipp Wittrock: After the election in Thuringia: CDU is considering Afghanistan coalition. In: Spiegel Online . September 15, 2014, accessed December 15, 2014 .
- ↑ Erfurt's mayor Bausewein elected SPD regional chief ( Memento from October 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Controversy over Joachim Gauck: "Die Linke" has not come to terms with its SED past for a long time. In: Focus Online. November 3, 2014, accessed December 15, 2014 .
- ↑ www.spd-thueringen.de
- ^ Claus Peter Müller, Erfurt: CDU does not run against Ramelow in the first ballot. In: FAZ.net . December 2, 2014, accessed December 15, 2014 .
- ^ Nicole Meißner: Sea of lights: Thousands of people demonstrate peacefully in Erfurt against red-red-green. In: Thuringian General. November 9, 2014, accessed July 5, 2015 .
- ^ Ferdinand Otto: Thuringia: In the loden coat against Ramelow. In: Spiegel Online . December 4, 2014, accessed December 15, 2014 .
- ↑ Elmar Otto: SPD MPs accuse CDU of bribery before Ramelow election. In: Thüringische Landeszeitung . January 9, 2015, accessed January 9, 2015 .
- ↑ mdr.de: Opposing vote offer before Ramelow election no criminal offense ( Memento from July 4, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), original retrieved on April 17, 2015
- ↑ Thuringian General: Dispute over ex-AfD MPs in family party: Gentele remains Secretary General
- ↑ nzz-online.de: Non-attached member of the state parliament: Siegfried Gentele has found a new party
- ↑ SPD woman goes to CDU: Ramelow's coalition in Thuringia is shrinking . Spiegel Online, April 26, 2017.
- ↑ www.mdr.de ( Memento from August 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
