1958 Hessian state election

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1958 Hessian state election
Flag of Hesse.svg
  1954 23 November 1958 1962  

All 96 seats in the Landtag of Hesse
49 seats needed for a majority
Turnout2,680,548 (82.3% Decrease2.svg 0.1pp)
 First partySecond party
 
Georg-August Zinn.jpg
CDU Landesvorsitzender Wilhelm Fay bei einer Rede wahrend des Bundestagswahlkampf.jpg
Candidate Georg-August Zinn Wilhelm Fay
Party SPD CDU
Last election44 seats, 42.6%24 seats, 24.1%
Seats won4832
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 4Increase2.svg 8
Popular vote1,235,361843,041
Percentage46.9%32.0%
SwingIncrease2.svg 4.3ppIncrease2.svg 7.9pp

 Third partyFourth party
 
Candidate Wolfram Dörinkel Gotthard Franke
Party FDP GB/BHE
Last election21 seats, 20.5%7 seats, 7.7%
Seats won97
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 12Steady2.svg 0
Popular vote250,310193,996
Percentage9.5%7.4%
SwingDecrease2.svg 11.0ppDecrease2.svg 0.3pp

1958 Hessian state election.svg
Results for the single-member constituencies.

Government before election

Second Zinn cabinet
SPDGB/BHE

Government after election

Third Zinn cabinet
SPDGB/BHE

The 1958 Hessian state election was held on 23 November 1958 to elect the 4th Landtag of Hesse. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and All-German Bloc/League of Expellees (GB/BHE) led by Minister-President Georg-August Zinn.

Contents

The election saw major losses for the Free Democratic Party (FDP) matched by gains for the SPD and Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which established itself as the major opposition to the SPD-led government. The FDP finished on 10%, its worst result since the inaugural postwar elections in 1946. The SPD's coalition partner the GB/BHE remained steady on 7%, and the government was renewed for a second term.

Electoral system

The Landtag was elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 48 members were elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting, and 48 then allocated using compensatory proportional representation. A single ballot was used for both. An electoral threshold of 5% of valid votes is applied to the Landtag; parties that fall below this threshold are ineligible to receive seats.

Background

In the previous election held on 28 November 1954, the SPD suffered small losses and fell to 43%, but remained clearly the largest party. The CDU emerged as the second largest party by a small margin as the FDP fell to 20%. The GB/BHE ran independently and won 8%, subsequently forming a coalition with the SPD.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 3rd Landtag of Hesse.

NameIdeologyLead
candidate
1954 result
Votes (%)Seats
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands
Social democracy Georg-August Zinn 42.6%
44 / 96
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands
Christian democracy Wilhelm Fay24.1%
24 / 96
FDP Free Democratic Party
Freie Demokratische Partei
Classical liberalism Heinrich Kohl20.5%
21 / 96
GB/BHE All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights
Gesamtdeutscher Block/Bund der Heimatvertriebenen und Entrechteten
National conservatism Gotthard Franke7.7%
7 / 96

Results

PartyVotes%+/–Seats
Con.ListTotal+–
Social Democratic Party 1,235,63146.91+4.3042648+4
Christian Democratic Union 843,04132.00+7.8762632+8
Free Democratic Party 250,3109.50–11.02099–12
All-German Bloc/League of Expellees 193,9967.36–0.330770
German Party 93,2603.54+2.370000
Deutsche Reichspartei 16,1780.61New000New
German Community 1,0930.04New000New
German People's Party4660.02New000New
Independents 1520.01+0.00000
Total2,634,127100.004848960
Valid votes2,634,12798.26
Invalid/blank votes46,6911.74
Total votes2,680,818100.00
Registered voters/turnout3,257,51382.30

Notes