Lower Saxony state election, 1998
- SPD: 83
- Green: 12
- CDU: 62
The election for the 14th Parliament of Lower Saxony took place on 1 March 1998. Was chosen in 100 constituencies. The minimum number of available seats in the parliament of Lower Saxony was 155 for each resulting overhang mandate additional compensation mandate was added so that the total number of seats in parliament is always odd.
Initial situation
In the state elections in 1994 the SPD had under the leadership of Prime Minister Gerhard Schröder a filmy absolute majority of seats reached while the CDU under its leading candidate, Christian Wulff, had suffered significant losses.
The SPD approached with the declared aim to defend their absolute majority.
Federal Political aspects
The state election drew very strongly in the focus of attention of media and public relations: Prime Minister Gerhard Schröder was next to the SPD chairman Oskar Lafontaine as one of the two main contenders for the SPD chancellor candidate for the September 27, 1998 held parliamentary elections.
Schröder himself had announced that it would waive its federal political ambitions, the SPD should lose more than two percentage points.
As Gerhard Schröder, according to most national polls appeared compared to Oskar Lafontaine as the more promising candidate in the federal election campaign, Chancellor Helmut Kohl committed unusually clear in the election campaign, so as to prevent an election victory Schroeder.
Result
The SPD increased by 3.6 percentage points and was thus able to expand their absolute majority. Christian Wulff thus failed in its second attempt to become prime minister. The FDP failed despite vote gains with a result of 4.9 % is very close to the five-percent hurdle.
Schröder remained prime minister and formed a new cabinet. On 27 October 1998 Schröder was chancellor; his successor as Prime Minister, Gerhard Glogowski.
Eligible voters: 5,929,342
Voters: 4,376,643 ( Turnout: 73.81 %)
Valid first votes: 4296592
Valid second votes: 4314932
The SPD received an overhang mandate, the CDU compensation mandate.
Federal Political Consequences
Already by 18 clock 30 SPD proclaimed national manager Franz Müntefering in the SPD Federal Center, Schroeder was with this result, the next chancellor candidate for the SPD.
Party leader Oskar Lafontaine confirmed this against 20 clock against the waiting outside his private house journalists.
In the parliamentary elections in September 1998 made it Schröder actually to replace Kohl as Chancellor. He was the first red-green coalition at the federal level (see Cabinet Schröder I).