1995 North Rhine-Westphalia state election
The 1995 North Rhine-Westphalia state election was held on 14 May 1995 to elect the members of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The incumbent Social Democratic Party (SPD) majority government led by Minister-President Johannes Rau lost its majority for the first time since 1980. The SPD subsequently formed a coalition with The Greens, and Rau continued in office.
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All 221 seats in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia 111 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 8,294,235 (64.0%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Campaign and issues
Beside the influence of federal politics, where popular support for the Kohl government slowly began to decline due to growing economic difficulties, environmental issues were the main topic of the election campaign. Garzweiler II, a proposed lignite-mining project which would have forced the resettlement of local residents, was strongly criticised by The Greens.
The CDU opposition focused on topics such as education, domestic security and crime, and support for local industries, though their positions were not markedly different from those of the SPD. As such, most controversy during the campaign was between the SPD and the Greens.
Parties
The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia.
| Name | Ideology | Leader(s) | 1990 result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes (%) | Seats | |||||
| SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands |
Social democracy | Johannes Rau | 50.0% | 122 / 237 | |
| CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands |
Christian democracy | Helmut Linssen | 36.7% | 89 / 237 | |
| FDP | Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei |
Classical liberalism | Achim Rohde | 5.8% | 14 / 237 | |
| Grüne | Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen |
Green politics | Bärbel Höhn | 5.0% | 12 / 237 | |
Election result
Summary of the 14 May 1995 election results for the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia
| Party | Votes | % | +/- | Seats | +/- | Seats % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Democratic Party (SPD) | 3,816,639 | 46.0 | |
108 | |
48.9 | |
| Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | 3,124,758 | 37.7 |  |
89 |  |
40.3 | |
| Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) | 830,861 | 10.0 | |
24 | |
10.9 | |
| Free Democratic Party (FDP) | 332,634 | 4.0 | |
0 | |
0 | |
| The Republicans (REP) | 65,509 | 0.8 | |
0 | ±0 | 0 | |
| The Grays – Gray Panthers (Graue) | 58,155 | 0.7 | |
0 | ±0 | 0 | |
| Others | 65,679 | 0.8 | 0 | ±0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 8,294,235 | 100.0 | 221 | |
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| Voter turnout | 64.0 | |
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