1958 Hessian state election

1958 Hessian state election

23 November 1958
All 96 seats in the Landtag of Hesse 49 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	2,680,548 (82.3% 0.1pp)
First party Second party   Candidate Georg-August Zinn Wilhelm Fay Party SPD CDU Last election 44 seats, 42.6% 24 seats, 24.1% Seats won 48 32 Seat change 4 8 Popular vote 1,235,361 843,041 Percentage 46.9% 32.0% Swing 4.3pp 7.9pp   Third party Fourth party   Candidate Wolfram Dörinkel Gotthard Franke Party FDP GB/BHE Last election 21 seats, 20.5% 7 seats, 7.7% Seats won 9 7 Seat change 12 0 Popular vote 250,310 193,996 Percentage 9.5% 7.4% Swing 11.0pp 0.3pp
Results for the single-member constituencies.
Government before election Second Zinn cabinet SPD–GB/BHE Government after election Third Zinn cabinet SPD–GB/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.

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

Main article: 1954 Hessian state election

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.

Name			Ideology	Lead 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 Fay	24.1%	24 / 96
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	Heinrich Kohl	20.5%	21 / 96
	GB/BHE	All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights Gesamtdeutscher Block/Bund der Heimatvertriebenen und Entrechteten	National conservatism	Gotthard Franke	7.7%	7 / 96

Results

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats
					Con.	List	Total	+–
	Social Democratic Party	1,235,631	46.91	+4.30	42	6	48	+4
	Christian Democratic Union	843,041	32.00	+7.87	6	26	32	+8
	Free Democratic Party	250,310	9.50	–11.02	0	9	9	–12
	All-German Bloc/League of Expellees	193,996	7.36	–0.33	0	7	7	0
	German Party	93,260	3.54	+2.37	0	0	0	0
	Deutsche Reichspartei	16,178	0.61	New	0	0	0	New
	German Community	1,093	0.04	New	0	0	0	New
	German People's Party	466	0.02	New	0	0	0	New
	Independents	152	0.01	+0.00	0	–	0	0
Total		2,634,127	100.00	–	48	48	96	0
Valid votes		2,634,127	98.26
Invalid/blank votes		46,691	1.74
Total votes		2,680,818	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		3,257,513	82.30

External links

• "The Election to the Hessian Landtag, 23 November 1958" (PDF). Parliamentary Data Bank of the Hessian Landtag (in German). February 1959. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
• "State election in Hesse, November 23, 1958". Hessian Regional History Information System (in German). Retrieved 17 September 2023.