1991 Rhineland-Palatinate state election

1991 Rhineland-Palatinate state election

←  1987 21 April 1991 1996  →
All 101 seats of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate 51 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	2,125,407 (73.9%) 3.1%
First party Second party   Leader Rudolf Scharping Carl-Ludwig Wagner Party SPD CDU Last election 40 seats, 38.8% 48 seats, 45.1% Seats won 47 40 Seat change 7 8 Popular vote 951,695 822,449 Percentage 44.8% 38.7% Swing 6.0% 6.4%   Third party Fourth party   Party FDP Greens Last election 7 seats, 7.3% 5 seats, 5.9% Seats won 7 7 Seat change 0 2 Popular vote 146,400 137,139 Percentage 6.9% 6.5% Swing 0.4% 0.6%
Results for the single-member constituencies
Minister-President before election Carl-Ludwig Wagner CDU Elected Minister-President Rudolf Scharping SPD

The 1991 Rhineland-Palatinate state election was held on 21 April 1991 to elect the members of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate. The incumbent coalition government of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Carl-Ludwig Wagner was defeated, losing its majority. ^[1] The Social Democratic Party (SPD) moved into first place, forming a coalition with the FDP. SPD leader Rudolf Scharping was subsequently elected as Minister-President. ^[2]

This election marked several changes in the state history:

First, a change in the state election system. Previous elections were held purely proportionally, however, from that election on, the elections were held more in line with the federal mixed-member proportional representation, with both direct constituencies and proportional representation.

Secondly, from 1991 on, the Landtag became elected for five years instead of the previous four.

Thirdly, the election marked a shift in the state's political alignment: for 44 years (1947-1991) the state had been governed by CDU, with CDU coming first in every election. ^[3] As of 2023 ^[update] , the state has been continuously governed by SPD since the election.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	1987 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Carl-Ludwig Wagner	45.1%	48 / 101
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Rudolf Scharping	38.8%	40 / 101
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism		7.3%	7 / 101
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics		5.9%	5 / 101

Election result ^[4]

Summary of the 21 April 1991 election results for the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate

Party		Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-	Seats %
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	951,695	44.8	6.0	47	7	46.5
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	822,449	38.7	6.4	40	8	39.6
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	146,400	6.9	0.4	7	0	6.9
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	137,139	6.5	0.6	7	2	6.9
	The Republicans (REP)	43,380	2.0	2.0	0	±0	0
	Others	24,244	1.1		0	±0	0
Total		2,125,407	100.0		101	1
Voter turnout			73.9	3.1

Popular Vote

SPD			44.78%
CDU			38.70%
FDP			6.89%
B'90/GRÜNE			6.45%
REP			2.05%
Other			1.14%

Landtag seats

SPD			46.53%
CDU			39.60%
FDP			6.93%
B'90/GRÜNE			6.93%

References

1. "Carl-Ludwig Wagner: Ex-Ministerpräsident von Rheinland-Pfalz ist tot - WELT". DIE WELT (in German). Retrieved 2025-11-30.
2. "Landtag Rheinland-Pfalz" (PDF). dokumente.landtag.rlp.de. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
3. "Sports Cars, Sleaze and Gamma Rays: Rhineland-Palatinate Elects Its FirstRed-Green Government - kai arzheimer". 2012-06-08. Retrieved 2025-11-30.
4. "Results of the Parliamentary Election in Rhineland-Palatinate 1991". politpro.eu. Retrieved 30 November 2025.