Saarland state election, 2017

Saarland state election, 2017

26 March 2017
All 51 seats of the Landtag of the Saarland 26 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer Anke Rehlinger Party CDU SPD Leader since 28 May 2011[1] 18 June 2016 Last election 19 seats, 35.2% 17 seats, 30.6% Seats won 24 17 Seat change 5 Popular vote 217,265 157,841 Percentage 40.7% 29.6% Swing 5.5% 1.0%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Oskar Lafontaine Rudolf Müller Party Left AfD Leader since 9 August 2008 16 September 2016 Last election 9 seats, 16.1% – Seats won 7 3 Seat change 2 New Popular vote 68,566 32,935 Percentage 12.9% 6.2% Swing 3.2% New
Minister-President before election Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer CDU Minister-President Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer CDU

State elections were held in Saarland on 26 March 2017.^[2][3] All 51 seats in the Landtag of Saarland were up for election. The incumbent Minister-President Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer went into the election leading a grand coalition of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD),^[4] seeking re-election after serving two terms as Minister-President.^[5]

Background

The 2012 state election was a snap election called due to the collapse of the Jamaica coalition of CDU, Free Democrats (FDP) and the Green Party on 6 January 2012. The result of the election was a victory for the governing Christian Democrats, while the FDP suffered enormous losses. The party thus failed to achieve parliamentary representation. The Greens lost voters, but obtained seats by getting enough votes to reach the 5 percent threshold. The opposition Social Democrats led by Heiko Maas increased their number of seats and votes, but failed to become the largest party in parliament. The Left Party suffered moderate losses. The Pirate Party secured parliamentary representation for the first time in a Western German regional parliament.^[6]

Parties and candidates

Opinion polling

Publication date	Poll source									Others	Lead
26 Mar 2017	2017 election	40.7	29.6	12.9	0.7	4.0	0.8	3.3	6.2	1.9	11.1
23 Mar 2017	Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	37	32	12.5	–	4.5	–	4	6	4	5
22 Mar 2017	INSA	35	33	13	–	4	–	5	6	4	2
17 Mar 2017	Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	37	32	12	–	4	–	4	7	4	5
16 Mar 2017	Infratest dimap	35	34	13	–	4.5	–	3	6.5	4	1
9 Mar 2017	Forsa	34	33	13	–	5	–	4	6	5	1
7 Mar 2017	INSA	36	33	12	–	4	–	4	7	4	3
26 Jan 2017	Infratest dimap	38	26	14	–	5	–	4	9	4	12
13 Jan 2017	INSA	35	24	16	–	6	–	5	10	2	11
15 Nov 2016	Forsa	37	26	15	–	6	–	3	9	4	11
11 May 2016	Infratest dimap	34	29	12	–	7	–	4	11	3	5
31 Mar 2015	Infratest dimap	40	33	10	1	6	–	2	4	4	7
25 May 2014	EU Parliament election	34.9	34.4	6.6	1.7	6.0	1.5	2.2	6.8	5.9	0.5
14 May 2014	Infratest dimap	37	34	13	2	5	–	–	5	4	3
22 Sep 2013	Federal Election	37.8	31.0	10.0	2.6	5.7	1.2	3.8	5.2	3.9	5.6
7 May 2013	Infratest dimap	39	36	10	2	6	–	2	3	2	3
25 Mar 2012	2012 election	35.2	30.6	16.1	7.4	5.0	1.7	1.2	–	4.4	4.6

Preferred Minister-President

Publication date	Poll source	Kramp-Karrenbauer	Rehlinger	Maas	None
23 Mar 2017	Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	53.0	34.0	–	13.0
17 Mar 2017	Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	55.0	31.0	–	14.0
16 Mar 2017	Infratest dimap	51.0	32.0	–	7.0
26 Jan 2017	Infratest dimap	60.0	23.0	–	9.0
15 Nov 2016	Forsa	54.0	19.0	–	–
11 May 2016	Infratest dimap	59.0	26.0	–	10.0
31 Mar 2015	Infratest dimap	62.0	18.0	–	9.0
14 May 2014	Infratest dimap	53.0	–	35.0	6.0
7 May 2013	Infratest dimap	53.0	–	36.0	7.0

Results

Reactions and aftermath

Pre-election polls suggested a close contest between the CDU and SPD, but the CDU surprised observers by exceeding pre-vote predictions.^[7] After the election, several commentators described the results as a boost for the September 2017 electoral prospects of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the CDU,^[8][9][10] and as a setback for SPD leader Martin Schulz.^[11]

As both the CDU and SPD refused to coalition with AfD, the CDU and SPD coalition reached an agreement to continue governing together after the election.^[12]

References