Brandenburg state election, 2009

Brandenburg state election, 2009

27 September 2009

All 88 seats of the Landtag of Brandenburg   First party Second party Third party   Leader Matthias Platzeck Kerstin Kaiser Johanna Wanka Party SPD Left CDU Last election 33 seats, 31.9% 29 seats, 28.0%[1] 20 seats, 19.4% Seats won 31 26 19 Seat change -2 -3 -1 Percentage 33.0% 27.2% 19.8%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Hans-Peter Goetz Marie Luise von Halem and Axel Vogel Party FDP Green DVU Last election 0 seats, 3.3% 0 seats, 3.6% 6 seats Seats won 7 5 0 Seat change +7 +5 -6 Percentage 7.2% 5.6%

Minister-President before election Matthias Platzeck SPD Elected Minister-President Matthias Platzeck SPD

State elections were held in Brandenburg on 27 September 2009, the same day as the German federal elections and the Schleswig-Holstein state elections. The elections determined control of the Landtag of Brandenburg (Brandenburg's legislature).

Entering the election, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) governed together in a grand coalition headed by Minister-President Matthias Platzeck (SPD).

Platzeck once again ran as the top candidate for the SPD. The top candidate of the Left Party was the leader of the party's faction in the Landtag, Kerstin Kaiser, while the CDU's top candidate was Johanna Wanka, the current Minister for Science, Research, and Culture in Brandenburg's government. The far-right German People's Union (DVU) nominated faction leader Liane Hesselbarth as its top candidate, while the campaign of the Green Party was led by both Marie Luise von Halem and Axel Vogel. The Free Democratic Party (FDP), meanwhile, nominated Hans-Peter Goetz, a Teltow lawyer, as its top candidate.

Results

The SPD once again came in first in the election, gaining a slightly larger share of the vote than in 2004 but losing two seats. The vote totals for the second-place Left Party and third-place CDU were largely unchanged from the last election, with a slight drop in support for the Left and a marginal gain for the CDU. Both the FDP and the Greens passed the 5% hurdle for representation, thus gaining seats in the Landtag for the first time since the 1990 election. In contrast, the far-right DVU saw its share of the vote collapse to just 1.2% and is no longer represented in the Landtag.

After the election, the SPD and The Left formed a "red-red" coalition, allowing Matthias Platzeck to continue as Minister-President.^[2]

 Summary of the 27 September 2009 election results for the Landtag of Brandenburg

Party		Vote % (change)		Seats (change)		Seat %
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	33.0%	+1.1%	31	-2	35.2%
	The Left Party (Linke)	27.2%	-0.8%	26	-3	29.5%
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	19.8%	+0.4%	19	-1	21.6%
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	7.2%	+3.9%	7	+7	8.0%
	Alliance '90/The Greens (Die Grünen)	5.6%	+2.0%	5	+5	5.7%
	National Democratic Party (NPD)	2.5%	+2.5%	0	-	-
	Free Voters	1.6%	+1.6%	0	-	-
	German People's Union (DVU)	1.2%	-4.9%	0	-6	-
	Others	1.8%	-5.9%	0	-	-
Total				88

Notes

1. The Party of Democratic Socialism contested the previous election, but subsequently merged with the Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative to form The Left
2. Left coalition set to take power in Brandenburg