2024 Styrian state election

2024 Styrian state election

←  2019 24 November 2024 Next →
All 48 seats in the Landtag of Styria 25 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	666,286 (70.8%) 7.3%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Mario Kunasek Christopher Drexler Anton Lang Party FPÖ ÖVP SPÖ Last election 8 seats, 17.5% 18 seats, 36.0% 12 seats, 23.0% Seats won 17 13 10 Seat change 9 5 2 Popular vote 230,282 177,580 141,517 Percentage 34.8% 26.8% 21.4% Swing 17.3% 9.2% 1.7%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Sandra Krautwaschl Nikolaus Swatek Claudia Klimt-Weithaler Party Greens NEOS KPÖ Last election 6 seats, 12.1% 2 seats, 5.4% 2 seats, 6.0% Seats won 3 3 2 Seat change 3 1 0 Popular vote 40,870 39,753 29,603 Percentage 6.2% 6.0% 4.5% Swing 5.9% 0.6% 1.5%
Winning party by municipality: FPÖ (blue), ÖVP (turquoise), SPÖ (red), Tied result (grey).
Governor before election Christopher Drexler ÖVP Elected Governor Mario Kunasek FPÖ

The 2024 Styrian state election was held on 24 November 2024 to elect the members of the Landtag of Styria.

The election resulted in heavy losses for the governing ÖVP and moderate losses for its coalition partner, the SPÖ. Together, they lost their majority in the state parliament (Landtag). Both parties also received their worst ever election results in the state of Styria.

The opposition FPÖ received its best result ever, doubling its vote share from the previous election and winning a state election for the first time in the state of Styria. It was also the first time ever that the FPÖ won a state election other than in Carinthia.

The Green Party had strong losses and was cut in half, while the KPÖ also saw their vote share decline. NEOS slightly improved its result compared to the previous election and received its best result ever in Styria.

Background

In 2019, the ÖVP was able to make strong gains and became the largest party with 18 of 48 seats. The SPÖ suffered heavy losses and fell to second place with 12 seats. The FPÖ lost even more support, yet remained the third strongest party. The Greens, KPÖ and NEOS made gains, with the latter entering the state parliament for the first time.

In Styria there is no percentage threshold. To enter the Landtag, each party is required to gain at least one seat in one of the four constituencies (Graz and surroundings, Western Styria, Eastern Styria, Upper Styria). ^{[1] [2]}

Statistics

A total of 941,509 people will be eligible to vote, down from 955,795 people in the previous election. A total of 191,452 absentee ballots were requested ahead of the election, or 20.34% of those eligible to vote. When compared to the 2019 state election (102,846 absentee ballots requested, or 10.76% of those eligible), the percentage almost doubled. Compared to the 2024 Austrian legislative election two months earlier, when 231,929 absentee ballots were issued in Styria (or 24.39% of those eligible), requests were down moderately.

Competing parties

The following 6 parties already represented in the Styrian Landtag will run again:

• ÖVP (Steirische Volkspartei – Christopher Drexler)
• SPÖ (Steirische Sozialdemokratie – Anton Lang)
• FPÖ (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs)
• Greens (Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative)
• KPÖ (Kommunistische Partei Österreichs)
• NEOS (NEOS – Die Reformkraft für deine neue Steiermark)

In addition, 3 other parties will compete, but only in the constituency of Graz and surroundings:

• DNA (DNA – Demokratisch – Neutral – Authentisch)
• KFG (Korruptionsfreie Bürgerliste – Team Claudia Schönbacher)
• MFG (MFG – Österreich: Menschen – Freiheit – Grundrechte)

Opinion polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	ÖVP	SPÖ	FPÖ	Grüne	KPÖ	NEOS	Others	Lead
2024 Styrian state election	24 Nov 2024	–	26.8	21.4	34.8	6.2	4.5	6.0	0.4	8.0
Market-Lazarsfeld/oe24.at [3]	7–11 Nov 2024	826	27	22	33	6	6	6	–	6
Peter Hajek Public Opinion Strategies GmbH/Kleine Zeitung [3]	14–18 Oct 2024	800	26	24	30	8	5	6	1	4
2024 Austrian legislative election	29 Sep 2024	–	27.0	18.6	32.2	7.6	3.1	8.2	3.3	5.2
Peter Hajek Public Opinion Strategies GmbH/Kleine Zeitung [3]	26 Apr–2 May 2024	810	22	21	29	10	11	6	1	7
M-Research/GRÜNE Steiermark [3]	23 Feb–5 Mar 2024	750	21.0	25.5	23.1	12.4	9.5	7.0	–	2.4
OGM/FPÖ Steiermark [3]	12–20 Feb 2024	1,033	23	24	25	9	13	5	1	1
M&R Wien/ÖVP Steiermark [3]	30 Nov–7 Dec 2023	800	28	24	25	9	8	6	–	3
Market/Standard [3]	19–24 Jan 2024	781	20	24	26	8	14	7	1	2
Triple M Matzka/NEOS Steiermark [3]	Late Oct – early Nov 2022	800	21	24	23	11	12	8	1	1
OGM/FPÖ Steiermark [3]	23–28 Sep 2022	547	24	24	24	11	12	5	–	Tie
IMAS/NEOS Steiermark [3]	Feb – Mar 2021	850	34.1	22.9	17.9	11.5	5.2	8.5	–	11.2
2019 Styrian state election	24 Nov 2019	–	36.0	23.0	17.5	12.1	6.0	5.4	–	13.1

Final results

Party		Votes	%	+/−	Seats	+/−
	Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ)	230,282	34.8	+17.3	17	+9
	Austrian People's Party (ÖVP)	177,580	26.8	–9.2	13	–5
	Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ)	141,517	21.4	–1.7	10	–2
	The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE)	40,870	6.2	–5.9	3	–3
	NEOS – The New Austria (NEOS)	39,753	6.0	+0.6	3	+1
	Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ)	29,603	4.5	–1.5	2	±0
	Demokratisch – Neutral – Authentisch (DNA)	1,634	0.3	New	0	New
	Korruptionsfreie Bürgerliste (KFG)	606	0.1	New	0	New
	Menschen – Freiheit – Grundrechte (MFG)	552	0.1	New	0	New
Valid votes		662,397	99.4	–	–	–
Invalid/blank votes		3,889	0.6	–	–	–
Total		666,286	100	–	48	0
Registered voters/turnout		941,509	70.8	+7.3	–	–
Source: ORF

Aftermath

On 27 November, after publication of the official results, the FPÖ met with the leaders of the other 5 parties represented in the new Landtag. The Greens and KPÖ ruled out a coalition with the FPÖ on election day or before already, but nonetheless held initial talks with Mario Kunasek as part of the historical convention. Media described a coalition between the FPÖ and the SPÖ as the most likely outcome of the initial talks and a decision could be made by Kunasek and the FPÖ as soon as 29 November. There were several important party members from the SPÖ who were publicly open to the possibility of a coalition with the FPÖ, such as party leader Anton Lang, or the mayor of Leoben, Kurt Wallner. The youth organizations of the SPÖ were opposed, as was federal SPÖ leader Andreas Babler, but he granted autonomy to the Styria SPÖ when it came to decision making on forming a new state government. ^[4]

Despite earlier media speculations, the FPÖ decided to start coalition talks with the ÖVP instead. On December 17, the new FPÖ–ÖVP government was presented to the public and it was sworn into office on December 18. The cabinet was split equally between four FPÖ members and four ÖVP members. The FPÖ got the gubernatorial post for the first time ever in Styria and for the first time in a state other than Carinthia. Four members of the government are women and four are men. ^[5]

The new FPÖ–ÖVP government was elected by the newly convened Landtag of Styria on December 18 and FPÖ leader Mario Kunasek was elected Styria's first FPÖ Governor with the votes of FPÖ and ÖVP. All opposition parties voted against him. The previous Styrian governor and ÖVP leader Christopher Drexler – who still led coalition talks for his party – was ousted in an internal ÖVP leadership election after talks concluded and was replaced by Manuela Khom. Drexler was elected as the deputy speaker of the new Styrian Landtag instead. ^[6]

References

1. "NEOS brauchen über sechs Prozent für Einzug" (in German). 21 October 2019. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
2. "LTW - Wahlkreiseinteilung, Zahl der Mandate" (in German). Retrieved 2023-03-17.
3. "Wahlen in Österreich" (in German). Retrieved 2024-05-05.
4. "Kunasek lud zu ersten Sondierungsgesprächen" (in German). 27 November 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
5. "Neue Landesregierung präsentierte Programm" (in German). 17 December 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
6. "Neue Landesregierung im Amt" (in German). 18 December 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-18.