Hesse has been in CDU hands for almost 25 years – after heavy losses in the election five years ago, the party is recovering. The Greens are losing out as coalition partners. The SPD suffers a defeat.
According to new projections from ARD and ZDF, the FDP narrowly missed re-entry into the Hessian state parliament. In the ARD projection from 8:19 p.m. and the ZDF projection from 8:41 p.m., the Liberals are only at 4.9 percent.
The clear winner is the CDU. It comes to 33.8 to 34.3 percent. The AfD will be the second strongest force with 17.9 to 18.2 percent. The Greens, who have previously co-governed, achieved 14.6 to 14.9 percent.
The SPD is still ahead of the Greens with 15.1 to 15.2 percent. The left, which has previously been represented in the state parliament, clearly missed its return to parliament with 3.1 to 3.3 percent each. The Free Voters come to 3.5 to 3.6 percent.
CDU sees “clear government mandate” – continue with black-green?
Prime Minister Rhein sees a “clear government mandate” from the citizens for the Union. “We will form a government from the middle of this society, from the middle of the country,” he continued. Rhein offered both the SPD and the Greens and FDP talks about cooperation.
CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann is also very satisfied with the performance of the CDU and CSU in the state elections in Hesse. Linnemann described the CDU’s performance in Hesse as a “sensational result”. Boris Rhein is a great top candidate who has addressed exactly the right issues. CDU leader Friedrich Merz supported him. The election campaign in Hesse also serves as a role model for the federal election campaign.
Green Party lead candidate Al-Wazir said the election showed that there was no mood for change in Hesse. “And I think that is also a clear indication of what the citizens expect from us in the next few weeks,” he said, referring to a possible continuation of the coalition between the CDU and the Greens.
The Green Party leader Omid Nouripour describes his party’s election results in the state elections as stable. The Greens hoped to become the second strongest force in both elections, Nouripour said on ARD. The Greens stand for responsibility. According to forecasts, his party has lost.
He described the performance of the AfD, which has made gains in both countries, as “shocking”. This is also a task for the traffic light coalition to regain trust.
Despite the Greens’ losses, federal chairwoman Ricarda Lang speaks of stable results. “These are stable results, even if they are not what we might have wanted,” said Lang on ZDF after the first forecasts. This is a good basis for the future. It is with concern that all three traffic light parties, i.e. SPD, Greens and FDP, were unable to make gains.
SPD top woman with a lot of headwind
SPD top candidate Faeser was very disappointed. “We had a lot of headwind, we saw it in the polls. That’s why it’s not that surprising, but still very disappointing.” Unfortunately, the SPD did not get through to its issues. When asked whether she would remain chairwoman of the Hessian SPD, she said on ZDF: “We’ll see about that in the next few days and weeks.”
SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert sees the results of the state elections as bitter for his party and for the traffic light coalition. “We are expressly not the election winners this evening,” said Kühnert on ZDF. The three parties in the traffic light coalition would have lost in both federal states.
The SPD General Secretary also supported the Hessian SPD top candidate and Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. Her authority as federal minister has not been damaged, he said. “I can also speak for the entire party leadership.” Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser also expressed her confidence that she would be able to continue her ministerial office despite the SPD’s poor performance in the Hesse state elections.
SPD leader Lars Klingbeil spoke of “two defeats for the SPD” – also with a view to Bavaria. The focus is on state political decisions, but the results are also “a signal to the three traffic light parties that a different pace is needed when it comes to solving the problems of the citizens in this country.”
The Union’s parliamentary secretary in the Bundestag, Thorsten Frei (CDU), however, called for a cabinet reshuffle in Berlin. Faeser was returning to Berlin defeated, he explained in Berlin. “It will now have even less of the necessary authority to solve the ongoing migration crisis at the Berlin and Brussels levels.”
According to an analysis by the Elections Research Group, “a pale Prime Minister” met a “completely indisposed challenger” Faeser. When viewed on the +5/-5 scale, Faeser ended up well in the negative zone with minus 1.3 – the worst SPD candidate image ever in a state election.
FDP points to the traffic lights in the federal government
The Hessian FDP chairwoman Bettina Stark-Watzinger also attributed her party’s weak performance to the federal traffic light coalition. “All three coalition parties have suffered losses here in Hesse,” said the Federal Education Minister.
FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai reacts briefly to his party’s poor performance. “From the FDP’s point of view, the currently available figures from Bavaria are disappointing. Things remain exciting in Hesse,” he said in Berlin.
The FDP committees would evaluate the results of both state elections tomorrow, said Djir-Sarai. “We will also analyze and discuss these results within the coalition.”
Hesse’s AfD leading candidate announces strong opposition
AfD leader Alice Weidel was delighted with her party’s performance. “Our politics proves us right,” said Weidel. She also viewed the strength of her party as a sign of people’s dissatisfaction with the federal government’s “ban policy”. With regard to the federal government, she spoke of a realistic chance of participating in government in 2025.
The top candidate of the Hessian AfD, Robert Lambrou, announces that his party will work strongly in the opposition in the state parliament. A lot of citizens in Hesse voted AfD for the first time, he said. “It is an enormous leap of faith that we will prove ourselves worthy of.” He is looking forward to the next five years in the state parliament “with a very strong, bourgeois, conservative, liberal voice.”
The Left Party leader Janine Wissler expressed her disappointment. “It is so bitter that we can no longer continue our work,” she said, referring to her home state of Hesse, where the Left will no longer be represented in the state parliament. The speculation about the founding of a new party by the left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht would also have done immense damage.
Wagenknecht: Faeser dismissed as minister after Hesse election
After the Hesse election, left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht is calling for the dismissal of Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. The background is the weak performance of the Hessian SPD with Faeser as the top candidate. “Anyone who fails in Wiesbaden is out of place in Berlin,” Wagenknecht told the German Press Agency. “The voters’ red card should be followed by dismissal by the Chancellor.”
The Interior Ministry is one of the most important ministries and “the refugee crisis is at least as dramatic as in 2015,” said Wagenknecht. “We don’t need an election loser at the top, but rather maximum ability to act.” She accused Faeser of “letting the smuggling industry do its thing.” The federal government should take a cue from countries like Denmark and minimize the influx, said Wagenknecht.
The black-green coalition has so far ruled with a narrow majority
Hesse has been governed by the CDU for almost 25 years, and together with the Greens for almost ten years – mostly quite harmoniously. The coalition currently has a majority of just one mandate. The aim of the current Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Al-Wazir (52) and SPD top candidate Faeser (53) was to replace Rhein (51) at the head of the state government. Before the election, Faeser made it clear that he would only return to state politics from Berlin if he won such an election.
Around 4.3 million eligible voters in Hesse were asked to tick their boxes. In total, the federal state in the middle of Germany has more than 6 million inhabitants.